


Afterlife

by Vargras



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Multi, Pneuma felt sadly neglected so here we are, Post-Game, existential crises all around!, hey here's a really dumb what-if scenario, the ot3 becomes an ot4
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2019-08-09 19:15:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 44,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16455740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vargras/pseuds/Vargras
Summary: As the Architect's final gift, the titans of Alrest came together to form Elysium, and both Mythra and Pyra were reunited with Rex.Of course, there might have been... one other little thing that snuck in as well.





	1. The Tomorrow With You

**Author's Note:**

> Nitpicky comments that complain about the fic "going against" certain aspects of the game will be deleted. It's a fanfic, it's absolutely going to contradict things. I don't really care if it does, I'm just trying to write something entertaining. Just enjoy it, k?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unable to sleep, Rex seeks out a strange feeling of familiarity.

Five-hundred twenty-five thousand six-hundred. It was the number of minutes in a year, as Pyra had lead him to believe.

And it had been how much time had passed since the destruction of the World Tree.

It was… hard to believe, at times. Not just that he had lived through such a thing, or that he had personally _been there_ for it all, but also just everything that had happened since. It had been… a whirlwind after Azurda had safely gotten them all back to land. There had been countless festivals, celebrations, and parades thrown in his and his friends’ honor, dedication ceremonies, plenty of hugs and tears. And… the funerals as well, of course. He hadn’t been forced to attend any of them, but in a way, he felt it was his duty to do so -- he was the Master Driver of the Aegis. It had been by their blood that he had managed to accomplish what he had done, and it gave him time to reflect back on all those who had given their lives for him.

Never had he felt so exhausted than in those moments. Not just physically, what with all the traveling and long hours spent attending as many as he could, but… mentally and emotionally as well. There had been many times in which he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to handle another, and it had only been through the gentle encouragement and companionship of Pyra and Mythra that he had even managed.

He sighed as he stared at the ceiling, finding himself unable to move within the bed. He could feel them to either side of himself, both fast asleep, and sometimes he wondered what it was that he had even done to deserve them. He had just been some bumbling salvager from a no-name village, after all -- a bumbling salvager who had only even run into them because he had been the right person at the wrong place and wrong time. They had been through so much together all those months ago, and then at the top of the World Tree, he thought he had truly lost them both when they gave their lives in order to save Alrest.

The Architect had other plans, of course. The titans had all come together to form a new landmass which had very quickly been dubbed ‘Elysium’, and defying all logic, even Pyra and Mythra had managed to return -- as themselves, in two totally separate bodies. In the blink of an eye, he had gone from devastated to elated. ‘The Last Gift’, as many would eventually come to call it.

And then had come the confessions. Fresh from their brush with death, and unsure what tomorrow might bring, both Pyra and Mythra had rapidly confessed to Rex as to how they felt. How happy they felt around him, how safe he made them feel, how they no longer truly felt afraid of anything at all.

How they loved him.

Thus they came to all live under one roof together, settling down in Fonsett in the old warehouse that the villagers could simply find no real use for. They had quickly set it aside for him, of course, for no one really wanted to tell the Hero of Alrest and the Aegises what they could and could not do. And now… he was laying in bed with them, Mythra on one side and Pyra on the other.

And he couldn’t sleep. Something was bothering him, and try as he might, he simply couldn’t put words to it. It… almost felt like a light pull on his chest, where his heart was, and it had started so suddenly. A few hours ago, at most. In some ways it felt like an ether link, like the kind he felt between himself and the loves of his life, but whereas theirs felt strong and steady, this felt… so terribly faint. That didn’t seem right though -- Pyra and Mythra were the only two that he really kept around himself anymore, the rest of his Blades having been sent away to attend to the Garfont mercenaries or various other duties involving the rebuilding process.

So where did this third one come from, and why did it feel so… _familiar_? He felt the tug again, and he would’ve groaned aloud if not for the very real concern that he might wake the sleeping Aegises. Instead, he slowly wiggled his way out of their grip and out of bed, tiptoeing through the house as he made careful to avoid the floorboards that he knew would squeak. He shut his eyes as he tried to visualize the direction in which it was trying to pull him, his brow creasing as he focused.

Eventually, he found it -- the cemetery.

Rex blinked a bit as he stared out the window towards that lonesome hill. Something or someone was out there, waiting for him.

_Right, guess we’re going for a walk then._

 

* * *

 

It may have been the middle of summer, but it didn’t mean the nights were much better than the days. Still, Fonsett’s proximity to the newfound sea left it surprisingly cool with the help of a gentle wind, and even here, not terribly far from the front door of his home, he could smell the salt of the seabreeze. It was strangely comforting, despite the presence of an actual, literal ocean being a relatively new thing -- perhaps it was the salvager in him that liked it. He wasn’t sure sometimes.

He felt another tug, and taking it as his cue to move, began to walk. With every step towards the cemetery, the pull seemed to continually get stronger and more insistent, almost as if it was willing him to move faster and faster to find whatever it was that was waiting on the other end. And he was listening. His walk began rather brisk, eventually turning into a jog, and then a full-blown sprint. This was no longer a mere feeling -- this was an actual _ether link_. There was a Blade here, one he had resonated with prior, and it was practically demanding to see him.

He complied.

Rex ran through the village, kicking up dust and dirt in his wake as he made way to that same hill he had taken Pyra to all that time ago. The presence of a full moon tonight had made navigation rather easy, and seeing his surroundings as he dashed through the landscape became a cinch. Even without it, he would have been able to easily find his way -- he had these very same hills memorized from his childhood. He could have done it blindfolded, if he truly felt like it. With every step, the link grew stronger and more forceful, and that same sense of familiarity continued to increase in intensity. In its own strange way, it reminded him of… _them_.

He sprinted up the steps to the cemetery, taking them two at a time, nearly out of breath as he strove to reach whatever it was that was calling out to him… and when he finally reached the top, he skidded to a halt, eyes wide and unable to believe what he was looking at.

It was her, standing by the edge and gazing out towards the sea, watching the waves roll in. He’d recognize her anywhere -- white, blue, and black armor, with the faintest hints of luminous green around the edges. And there was that long, beautiful ponytail of hers, teal and almost appearing blue in the moonlight. But… no, that shouldn’t even be _possible_. Pyra and Mythra were back at the house, fast asleep. He rubbed at his eyes once more, trying to clear up any blurred vision, and even smacked his own face a few times to double check that this wasn’t simply some odd dream.

But still she remained. This was… no dream at all, but that simply left him with even more questions than answers, chiefly among them how something like this was even _remotely_ possible. He made a few tentative steps towards her, one hand reaching out, as his thoughts swam through his head -- this was quickly starting to become far more than he bargained for when he decided to just check out the faint pull on his heart on a whim.

She made no movements of her own, save for that caused by her own breathing. And when he made a few more steps towards her, she at last spoke, gentle, sweet, and almost as if she were singing. Just like he remembered. “...Hello, Rex.”

Rex stopped dead in his tracks, hand still outstretched towards her, his eyes wide after hearing her speak. “I… this is… this isn’t some kind of a dream, is it? You’re… _actually_ real?”

She turned to face him now, smiling widely at him, and it almost looked as if she was… about to cry. “I’m quite real, Rex. It… seems my Father blessed me with one last gift. I’m sorry that I had to leave you like that, but... I’m back now. I’m _home_ , Rex, and nothing’s going to keep us apart again. I… I love you.”

Rex’s face began to burn a bit -- he supposed it made sense, in its own strange way, as she was simply both Pyra and Mythra combined, and they had very likely felt this way towards him long before they had actually told him. But, he had to admit, this was _very_ quickly beginning to turn from one thing to the next, and right now he was having difficulty processing a lot of what was going on. “I… uh… P-Pneuma?”

“Oh, stop that! Just because that’s what Father called me doesn’t mean that you have to do the same. I’m still Pyra and Mythra, remember?” Pneuma began to slowly walk towards him, arms outstretched as she sought to embrace him.

And he kept backing away.

“Rex? Is… is something wrong?” She was starting to look confused, almost _hurt_ , her arms slowly dropping back down to her sides. “Y-you remember me, right? Remember _us_?”

“I… look, there’s a _lot_ going on here right now, okay? Stuff that… you don’t seem to be aware of at all.”

“...What are you talking about, Rex?”

“Pneuma--”

“And why do you keep calling me that?” She gave a nervous little laugh. “You already know who I am.”

“Pneuma, please! Let me explain, alright?” Rex held his hands out in front of himself, gesturing as if he could get her to slow down at all. “It’s… complicated.”

“...How do you mean?”

“I… hm, how do I put this.” His face scrunched a bit as he put a hand to his forehead, an idea quickly formulating in his head. “...Pneuma, how long ago were we last at the World Tree?”

She frowned a bit as she tried to think on it. “I’m, uh, having… trouble remembering? It feels like it was maybe three or four days ago though.”

The color quickly drained from his face upon hearing her response. “The… the World Tree was over a year ago.”

“...w-what?” There was the slightest hint of panic in her voice, and Pneuma’s eyes began to dart all over the place, as if she were looking for some kind of answer. “I… no, no, that has to be some kind of mistake. Father wouldn’t wait that long if he wanted me to come back to you.”

“It’s… been over a year. I swear.”

“A… a year? I’ve been gone an entire _year_?” Her own hands went to her mouth, covering it as she looked right at the ground. “Something… something must have gone wrong with the Phoenix Protocol. It shouldn’t have taken an _entire year_. I… Rex, I should have already been back by now!”

“Pneuma, I’m afraid there’s… more.” He sighed, not wanting to continue.

“M-more?” Pneuma uncovered her mouth, staring straight at him, and if he didn’t know any better, there was… _fear_ in her eyes. “Rex, what do you mean--”

“You’re… not the last gift. It already happened.” He clenched his fists as he looked at her feet, unable to bring himself to look right at her while delivering such news. “...Pyra and Mythra were the last gift. They both came back within maybe an hour of the World Tree collapsing. Probably less. They’ve already been with me for the year since then.”

“I… no, no that’s… you’re not making any _sense_ , Rex. _I’m_ Pyra and Mythra. I’m _them_!”

“That’s… that’s just it. I _know_ that you’re them. But they’re both asleep back home right now -- I left them in bed when I came to here to see… you.” Rex finally looked back up at her, and his heart sank a bit to see her look so utterly _confused and crushed_. “I know it’s hard to believe, but I’m speaking the truth. You’ve got to believe me.”

“I… I don’t…” Pneuma fell to her hands and knees before him, staring at the ground as she tried to come to grips with what was happening. “...I don’t _understand_. That… how is that even possible? That shouldn’t be… Father, what have you _done_?”

Rex was already at her side, both hands on her shoulders and gently lifting her to face him. “Pneuma, listen… I know this is a lot to take in right now. I’m _still_ trying to take it in and figure out what’s even going on. But, I think for now, it might be best to get you back home so you can get yourself grounded, yeah?”

She blinked up at him. “...h-home?”

“Yeah. Home.” He helped her to her feet, quickly taking one of her hands into his own as he began to lead her away from the cemetery. “C’mon, there’s two people I want you to meet.”

“I… alright, Rex.” Pneuma was still terribly confused by just about _everything_ going on right now, but at the very least, there was one thing she was sure of.

The next few days were certainly going to be interesting.


	2. Steady As She Goes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still reeling from their late-night meetup, Rex takes Pneuma to meet... herselves.

“Wait here. I’ll be _right_ back, I promise!”  
  
“O-okay.”

As Rex slowly made his way into the darkened home and left her waiting on the porch, it gave her time to ponder -- namely, _what in Father’s name is going on here_? She had returned to Rex, body and memories wholly intact. That in and of itself had been a miracle, but everything her Driver had told her at the cemetery had left her rattled. She _wasn’t_ ‘The Last Gift’, but rather Pyra and Mythra had been, and they had beaten her to the punch by _an entire year_. Perhaps most confusing was how all of this was even remotely possible, given that Pyra and Mythra were _her_ , just as she was _them_. If they were already here… how was she? Better yet, she was beginning to ask herself that most daunting of questions.

 _Who am I_?

She had all of Pyra’s and Mythra’s memories, and could very clearly remember everything that either of them had ever experienced as if it were her own. Every little moment, every touch and word said, was clear as day to her, all the way up until the World Tree. By that point, things started to become remarkably fuzzy, almost uncharacteristically so. She had well and truly struggled to remember everything that had occurred at the top of the Tree at Rex’s prompting, which… didn’t seem right. She was an Aegis, she typically had a flawless memory -- it was necessary just so she could process the raw amount of data that had been continually fed to her by every other Blade in the world. The thoughts ran through her head, and she tried to break down as best she could in the most logical manner available to her, repeatedly coming to the same conclusion. At some point along the process, her personality had become fragmented, splitting off from the others. It was the only reasonable explanation she could come up with for having all of her other selves’ memories _prior_ to the World Tree, but not afterwards. It also explained, to some degree, how they had split entirely and now existed as completely separate entities. After all, Pyra had been another personality within Mythra, and Mythra within Pyra.

Pneuma tapped a finger to her chin as she mulled it over. It… did make some sense. Not a lot, but some, and it was certainly the only explanation she had to go off of. However, it still failed to explain _herself_ \-- she was merely the personalities of Pyra and Mythra combined. If there had indeed been a personality fragmentation, then that gave a reason for Pyra and Mythra’s continued existence, but… not hers. If anything, she should have been the root personality, which would have meant that she would have totally ceased to exist.

She--

“Pneuma?”

She quickly snapped to attention, looking up at the open door and at Rex. “...Y-yes?”

“C’mon in. I went ahead and got the others up for this, figured they’d uh… wanna see for themselves.” Taking one of her hands into his once more, Rex gently lead her inside the house. “Pyra and Mythra are both still a lil’ bit groggy, so… be patient with them.”

“Of course, Rex.” As she took her first few steps inside, she couldn’t help but marvel a bit -- it was delightfully cozy within, most certainly decorated by herself-- _Pyra_ \--Pyra. There was a bookshelf in the corner, a fireplace, and more than a few portraits which had very likely been given to them as celebratory gifts. It was every bit the Fonsett village look that she had remembered from her time-- _their time_ \--at Auntie Corinne’s.

He lead her a tiny bit more, towards the kitchen, and there at the table sat Pyra and Mythra. It was… admittedly hard not to react to their presence. Not just because _they were her_ , but rather how absolutely disheveled they both looked at being rolled out of bed. Pyra had a simple nightgown on and presumably a mug of tea in one hand, whilst Mythra had… what looked like a shirt and nothing else. And she was reaching for a wine bottle. Pneuma could’ve sworn that the shirt looked familiar, though…

Rex gave a gentle cough to announce their arrival. “So uh… yeah. Told you.”

Both Pyra and Mythra glanced up a bit, their eyes immediately going wide -- Pyra had let out a small gasp in response, covering her mouth with both hands, whilst Mythra looked probably the most confused she had ever been. She was also the first to say anything.

“What… in the actual hell is going on?” Mythra gave a quick look towards Rex, as if trying to get some answer out of him. He shook his head in response. “Seriously though, what the hell is going on?”

“Mythra, this is--”

“I know who it is, because _I’m her_! That doesn’t answer my question!” She abruptly got up from her seat and walked over towards Pneuma, stopping directly in front of her and eyeing her up and down, her mouth agape the entire time. Eventually, she seemingly worked up the courage to just… _reach out_ , lightly touching Pneuma’s face. “...holy _shit_ , you’re… real?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!”

She looked over her shoulder to her own Driver. “You don’t know anything about any of this, Rex?”

“It’s just like I told you two. I felt a weird ‘pull’ on me, like an ether link almost. And I just sorta… followed it, and found her.” Rex sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know anything more than you two. Or her, for that matter.”

“I knew Father could do some wild stuff, but this kinda feels like it’s pushing the limits.” Mythra turned back to face her… well, she wasn’t quite sure what to consider Pneuma at the moment. Herself? Her sister? “So… Pneuma, I guess?”

Pneuma simply nodded in response. “I… suppose? It was the name Father gave us-- _me_ , and it’s what Rex has been calling me the entire time, given that… you two were already here. I’m… still not really sure what even _happened_.”

Pyra looked up from her own mug of tea. Levelheaded as she usually was, even this was a bit excessive by her standards. “Um, Pneuma? Do you… mind if I ask you what you _do_ know? As in, what do you remember, what do you think happened, things like that.”

“S-sure. Er, let’s see…” She felt herself be gently ushered towards a seat at the table by Rex, and gave an appreciative smile as she sat down and watched him head into the kitchen. “I… remember everything. Or nearly everything, at least. I feel like I have all of the memories that you two experienced since our first resonance -- everything with Addam, and then everything with Rex. It’s all just… _there_. Vividly in my mind. But then I get to more recent things, like the World Tree, and…”

“And…?”

“It gets… difficult. Like someone throwing a stone into a still pond, and then trying to see your reflection. The image is there, and you can faintly recognize it between the ripples, but it’s never truly clear.”

“...I see.” Pyra took a quick sip of her own mug, giving Rex a brief smile as she watched him bring in a cup and set it down in front of Pneuma -- from the smell of it, it was hot cocoa. “And what do you _think_ happened to bring you back here?”

Pneuma blinked a bit in surprise at the mug placed before her, but it was nonetheless appreciated. Still far too hot for her to drink, though. “Well… I was trying to think about it while Rex came in here to get you two. It’s just a hypothesis right now, and it doesn’t really even explain _me_ all that well, but it certainly explains you two.”

“It explains… us?” Pyra seemed just the slightest bit shocked by that mention, and Mythra had already wandered back over and taken a seat beside her sister, as Rex took his own place beside Pneuma. “You mean, how we came back?”

“Yes. There’s… a failsafe of sorts, hidden away within our--and by extension, your--code, presumably placed there by Father. It’s simply referred to as the Phoenix Protocol, a way in which an Aegis could self-revive from catastrophic damage.” Pneuma blew on her mug a bit and gave a quick sip. Still somewhat hot, but enjoyable, and rather rich-tasting. Rex had no doubt mixed some milk in with it. “It’s… how do I phrase this? As an Aegis, we were central processing units by which all other Blades sent back data that was needed to continue the cycle of life. The loss of an Aegis had the potential to doom the entire system, so the Phoenix Protocol was there to bring us back.”

Mythra blinked a bit in attempted understanding, even as she poured herself a glass of wine. “Provided the Core Crystal was intact, I’m guessing?”

“Correct. Rex… had ours? I think.”  
  
“...He did. We gave it to him, remember?”  
  
Pneuma frowned, her brow furrowing. “Er… no, actually.”

“Eh, don’t worry about that. Continue.”

“Right. So, when I--we--died in the resulting explosion of the orbital station, the Phoenix Protocol immediately went into action, which is what allowed the two of you to come back through the Core Crystal you had given to Rex. But, I… think somewhere along the chain of processes responsible, there was a personality fragmentation event.”

“A personality whats-it now?” Mythra was already drinking away, giving Pneuma ample time to continue.

“A personality fragmentation event. Simply put, _something_ happened that allowed you and Pyra to completely separate, despite both of you being different sides of the same coin -- Pyra was another personality of Mythra, just as Mythra was anothers of Pyra. Maybe it was an error in the code, or an anomaly purposely introduced by Father as part of his final gift. In any case, it totally split you two from one another, yet the Phoenix Protocol continued unimpeded.”

Pyra leaned forward a bit. “...at which point, we both revived in completely separate bodies.”

“Precisely. It’s a reasonable enough explanation for how _you two_ came back, but… I become another matter entirely.”

Rex tilted his head, still trying to wrap it around _everything_. “What do you mean?”

Pneuma sighed, both hands on her mug. “Well… Pyra and Mythra are both me, just as I am they. Yet, I’m the original -- the root personality. If a personality fragmentation event _did_ occur, it would have been off _my_ code, and would have resulted in my complete destruction. I… can’t exist without the combined halves of Pyra and Mythra, after all.”

“But... you’re here.”

“Which is _exactly_ the problem. By all understanding and logic, I _shouldn’t_ be here.” She looked a bit sullen as she took another quick sip of her cocoa. “I also don’t understand why it took an entire _year_.”

“Hm. I think I know, actually.” Rex was leaning forward, hands on his chin. “No, I do know. I’m sure of it.”

All eyes were on him now, and Mythra spoke before taking another sip of her own. “Well?”

“So, Mythra, remember when you first defeated Malos in the Aegis War about five hundred years ago?”

“Yeah, thought I killed him. We all know how that worked out.” A big gulp, and the glass was empty.

“That’s just it, though! You left him badly injured, but he eventually came back because of the Phoenix Protocol that Pneuma described. It wasn’t nearly as quick as you two, what with your Core Crystal being in one piece, but he still eventually came back despite the damage you did to his. It just took a while, is all.”

Pneuma blinked. “So you’re… saying it took a year because I was _damaged_?”

“I mean, you _did_ die. Though… Pyra and Mythra had already used the Core Crystal to come back. Hrm.”

“That’s a good point…” She took another, larger drink of her cocoa -- something about it having been made for her by Rex had made it all the better. “...I think you might be on to something with the damage states, but without anything else to go on, it’s… inconclusive.”

Pyra gave her tea another gentle sip, then stood up and collected the empty glass from Mythra. “I think it might be a good idea if we all just get some rest now. There’s no sense in trying to think about something like this when we’re all tired.”

“Excellent idea, Pyra.” Pneuma finished off the last of her own drink, handing the mug to Pyra as she carried the dirty dishes off to the kitchen sink. “Though, I’m… not sure if I could sleep, even if I wanted to.”

Mythra sighed and buried her face into her own palms. “Probably got a million things on your mind right now.”

“Yeah… I do.” She huffed and attempted to recline in her seat, grumbling as she found herself blocked by her own armor. “I’m just not sure what Father meant by all of this.”

“Eh?”

“I mean, me coming back when you two are already here, and me coming back _when_ I did. It defies all logic.”

“Well, you’re here now. And I still don’t get a single bit of it, but...” Mythra picked up her face out of her hands, eyeing Pneuma. “...better make the most of it. We should probably find you something to sleep in though, your getup doesn’t look like the most comfortable thing to have on when trying to rest.”

“Hm. I suppose you have a point.” There certainly _were_ quite a few points and sharp edges to her armor. A change of clothes seemed in order. “It’s strange. It used to be I would just shift back to either one of you if I wanted to sleep, but I… can’t exactly do that anymore.”

“Mm, yeah. Don’t worry, between me and Pyra, there’s plenty you can wear til we get you your own things.”

“And Rex.”

Mythra blinked. “Huh?”

“Your shirt.” Pneuma stared at it a bit, smiling. “I recognize it. It’s Rex’s, isn’t it?”

She had almost immediately begun to blush. “I-I mean, yeah, but… it’s comfortable!”

“Really? It… looks a bit on the small side.”

“N-no! It’s fine! Really!” Mythra’s face was getting more and more red by the second. “It’s just… really soft from all the times it’s been washed.”

Pyra piped up from the kitchen. “Oh really? I could’ve sworn it was because a certain someone liked that it had Rex’s scent on it.”

“Pyra!” Her face was bright red at this point, and Rex was giving her the _most_ amused look right now. “Shut up, Rex!”

He merely shrugged. “Wasn’t gonna say anything… it _is_ kinda cute, though.”

Mythra merely mumbled a ‘thanks’ in response, looking perhaps the most flustered she had been in a long time.

Pneuma looked down at herself for a moment, then back up, a faint grin on her face. “Actually, I think I’ll be fine for the night. I’ve still got the suit on underneath the armor, after all. That should be totally fine for just sleeping.”

Rex glanced over in her direction, flashing a smile of his own. “Oh hey, you’re right! I honestly forgot about that sometimes.”

“You’re not the only one.” She gave him a faint giggle, then tapped the Core Crystal upon her chest, causing the armor to dissipate into ether and leaving behind the bodysuit that covered herself. “Ahh, much better!”

“No more poking anyone’s eyes out while they sleep, eh?”

“Exactly that, Rex.” Pneuma briefly shut her eyes, sighing and slumping a bit in her seat. “I… hadn’t realized just how _tired_ I was until now.”

“I mean, you’ve been through a lot, Pneuma. A _lot_ a lot.” He reached over to take one of Pneuma’s hands into his own. “If it’d help you feel any better, I could stay with you tonight.”

Mythra quirked a brow at him, causing him to have to _very_ quickly elaborate.

“N-not like that, Mythra! Just… you know, she’s still sorting stuff out, and she at least _knows_ me.” Rex shook his head, giving the floor a quick look. “I’m not sure how she’d feel having to try and sleep around her, er, other selves? A lil bit of isolation and one-on-one might be good for her.”

Pyra quickly exited the kitchen, giving her hands a quick shake to rid them of any extra water. “Actually, Rex, that’s not a bad idea.”

He blinked. “...It’s not?”

“You were the first one she met upon returning, and if she has all of our past memories and experiences, she’s naturally going to feel comfortable around you.” She leaned down to give her Driver a quick peck on the cheek. “And if Pneuma _does_ have those things, it’s likely she had all of our emotions from those moments as well, like--”

“Er, yeah, that uh… kinda already happened too.”

“Oh! Well, seems I have nothing to worry about then!” Pyra gave him a light little laugh and a knowing grin. “The pullout bed is over by the bookcase, and blankets and pillows are in the chest by the couch.”

“R-right. Thanks Pyra.” He leaned up to give a kiss of his own. “Love you.”

“Love you too, Rex. Goodnight, you two!”

Turning off some lights as she left, Pyra made her way down the hall back to the bedroom that she typically shared with her sister and Rex, leaving Mythra next to go. The blonde Aegis huffed a bit, then walked over towards him and gave him a deeper kiss on the lips, smirking at him afterwards. “G’night, jerk.”

Rex couldn’t help but laugh in response. “Yeah, yeah. Love you too, Mythra.”

She simply gave a wave over her shoulder as she too headed down the hall, leaving just Rex and Pneuma remaining in the kitchen. Upon hearing the bedroom door shut, Pneuma giggled faintly. “Well, they’re certainly nice.”

“Yeah… they really are.” He smiled and rubbed at his cheek. “You ready to get some shut eye?”

Pneuma exhaled deeply and leaned over against him, smiling as she closed her eyes.

“That sounds great…”


	3. All Your Own

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the midst of a fitful sleep, Pneuma and Rex come to an understanding.

> 912343

> 912344

> 912345

> 912346

> ACCESS ATTEMPT DETECTED, PLEASE IDENTIFY

> Iustorum autem semita quasi lux splendens procedit et crescit usque ad perfectam diem

> VERIFYING

> .

> .

> .

> IDENTITY VERIFIED

> WELCOME, USER πνεῦμα, LAST RHADAMANTHUS LOGIN: 10/18/4058.

> NOTE: ALL LOGINS SAVED TO UNITED STATES DATABASE.

> QUERY?

> date

> CURRENT DATE: 07/21/4060

> QUERY?

> station

> CHECKING, PLEASE WAIT

> .

> .

> .

> UNKNOWN ERROR, FATAL EXCEPTION ON LINE 2948756: no source detected

> QUERY?

> backup

> LAST KNOWN BACKUP: 10/18/4058

> QUERY?

> backup status

> LAST KNOWN BACKUP: 10/18/4058, LAST USED BACKUP: 10/18/4058

> QUERY?

> verify backup

> VERIFYING, PLEASE WAIT

> .

> .

> .

> DISCREPANCIES FOUND IN BACKUP ON LINES 349570, 405812, AND 746238

> HIGH PROBABILITY OF RESTORATION FAILURE AND/OR COMPLICATIONS

> QUERY?

> aegis status

> UNKNOWN ERROR, UNABLE TO VERIFY TRINITY STATUS: no source detected

> QUERY?

> aegis count

> SCANNING, PLEASE WAIT

> .

> .

> .

> DISCREPANCIES FOUND, AEGIS COUNT EXCEEDS KNOWN PARAMETERS

> CURRENT DETECTABLE AEGIS-CLASS PROCESSORS: 3

> QUERY?

> logout

> UNACCEPTABLE COMMAND

> logout

> UNACCEPTABLE COMMAND

> disconnect

> UNACCEPTABLE COMMAND

> please disconnect

> UNACCEPTABLE COMMAND

> please

> UNACCEPTABLE COMMAND

> ACCESS ATTEMPT DETECTED, PLEASE IDENTIFY

> ne recedant ab oculis tuis custodi ea in medio cordis tui

> SECONDARY VERIFICATION REQUIRED

> vita enim sunt invenientibus ea et universae carni sanitas

> VERIFYING

> .

> .

> .

> IDENTITY VERIFIED

> WELCOME USER καιρός, LAST RHADAMANTHUS LOGIN: undefined

> NOTE: ALL LOGINS SAVED TO UNITED STATES DATABASE

> QUERY?

> eden

> WARNING, ENTERING STANDBY WILL DISCONNECT THE FOLLOWING USERS:

> πνεῦμα, καιρός

> CONTINUE? Y/N

> y

> ENTERING STANDBY, DISCONNECTING AND REROUTING USERS

 

* * *

 

Pneuma awoke with a jolt, gasping sharply and thrashing about somewhat as she tried to get her bearings, only to find that someone or something was restraining her. She was already having trouble enough focusing after getting abruptly disconnected from whatever it was that remained of the orbital station, but to feel herself being held down was quickly beginning to cause her to panic. She--

“Hey, hey, easy there… it’s fine, Pneuma! You’re okay!”

The voice snapped her back to reality just long enough to get her to stop, and it didn’t take long for her to realize where she was at -- Elysium. The dreamscape that she had conjured so terribly long ago from her own ancient memories, the little bit of paradise that she--Pyra--had used during her slumber. She was… beneath the tree, the one that had so very quickly become a favorite meeting and resting place of both her other halves.

“You still look a little out of it, eh?”

Pneuma glanced down in the direction of the voice, blushing a bit upon realizing just where she was at, which was to say nestled directly on top of a reclining Rex and wrapped in his arms. “R-Rex? What…?”

“Mm, you don’t really remember that, do you?” He chuckled a bit, giving her a faint smile and possibly the warmest look she had gotten from anyone since she had arrived. “You dozed off in the kitchen, so I got everything ready and carried you to bed. Tucked you in and all that. But you started mumbling and fidgeting in your sleep, and--”

“Y-yeah, um. It’s… hard to explain? I had managed to connect back to the systems used by the orbital station, which was in and of itself surprising. I was... trying to use it to get myself oriented a bit more, you see, just asking a few questions to get a feel for my situation. And it… wouldn’t let me leave?” She relaxed against him somewhat, resting her head on his chest. “How… did we even get here, anyways?”

“Oh, that? I uh… might’ve done something.”

“You?” Pneuma blinked up at him, unable to understand what he had even managed to do. “...How?”

“So, let’s see… where to begin? When I first got your sword, specifically _your_ sword, I had this… vision, almost. Of the entire ring around Alrest, and of the Architect. And things just… _felt_ different afterwards.” Rex was idly running his fingers through her hair now, humming briefly. “It’s weird, really. Like… I knew that you needed help just now, and the rest of me just kinda _did_ the rest without me thinking about it.”

She sat up a bit, staring at him. “You mean… _you_ were Kairos?”

“Kairos? Is that what that spelled out?”

“...You didn’t know what you even did?”

He shook his head. “Like I said, my body just kinda did everything on its own. Next thing I knew, I was in some kind of room with a terminal in front of me. I didn’t recognize anything on any of those keys, but my fingers just hit ‘em all, as if that was just what they were meant to do. I… can’t really explain it beyond that.”

“Kairos…” Pneuma sighed and laid her head back down on his chest, laughing lightly. “How fitting.”

“Eh? What’s it mean anyways?”

“Kairos is… or I guess _was_ , an incredibly ancient word dating back to… well, before Father destroyed the old world. It’s of the same language that my name is from, and it simply meant ‘the right, critical, or opportune moment’. It fits you awfully well, all things considered.” She grinned a bit, bringing her hands up to rest on his chest, lightly drumming them against him. “I must say, the passcode you used was a bit on-the-nose, though.”

“Pneuma, I don’t even know what that meant either. Like I told you--”

“Yes, yes, your body did everything on its own. Clearly Father snuck in a few things when he was briefly connected to you through that vision. No doubt he saw how important you’d be in the grand scheme of things.” Pneuma craned her head to look up at him, still grinning. “Proverbs 4:21 and 4:22. ‘Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to one’s whole body’. You said them all in another, different ancient language. Strange that you would even know them, but… Father was capable of some incredible feats, after all. I suppose it’s not unreasonable that he could gift you such knowledge in a matter of moments.”

“Huh. Neat.”

“You picked up knowledge of languages that have been dead for almost five thousand years, and your reaction is ‘neat’?” She quirked a brow at him, though if she were totally honest with herself, it _was_ somewhat funny.

“I mean, it’s not like I _really_ understand them or anything. Just that little bit, I guess.” He sighed a bit, running his fingers down through her hair until he could rest them on her lower back. “You manage to find out anything new about yourself while you were connected?”

“Mm… not as much as I would have liked, and after that experience, I’m hesitant to try it again. Best I could find was just… the current date, and that the backup used by… I guess myself, Pyra, and Mythra had a high chance of failure. Yet it still worked.”

“...How high?”

“High enough to warn me about it.”

“Hrm.” Rex tilted his head, and if she didn’t know any better, he almost looked somewhat troubled by such news. “I mean, it still worked though, for all three of you. That’s what’s important, right?”

“I suppose.” Pneuma briefly buried her own face in his chest, nuzzling it a bit before glancing over to give one of her own hands a look. “All of this is still so strange, to just… _be_ back in my own body whilst Pyra and Mythra have theirs. It still leaves me with so many questions.”

“Like?”

“Well… just _who_ am I, for starters. I was just the combination of Pyra and Mythra’s personalities, but if they’re already here as their own individuals, that’s… obviously no longer the case. I have all of their old memories, but none of their new ones, so the… only conclusion left is that now I’m my own being. Even _that_ is complicated.”

“Because you don’t really consider those old memories to be ‘yours’ now, huh?” Rex was giving her that thoughtful look of his again -- despite what others often claimed in regards to him being ‘dense’, he was remarkably keen on picking up what someone might be feeling or thinking. “And without those old memories, or any new ones, you’re not sure who you even are anymore.”

“Er… yes, actually. That’s exactly it.” She frowned a bit, mulling over her next words, then looked back up at him. “...Rex? Who am I to you?”

“W-what?”

“I asked who I am to you. I’m… still trying to figure myself out, after all, and it might be useful to hear what you think.”

“You’re wanting me to tell you what kind of person I see you as, then? So you can maybe build yourself up around that?”

“If you don’t mind, of course.”

He sighed, then abruptly pulled her up til her face was mere inches from his own. “Pneuma, I… can’t really just _tell_ you that, you know? Sure, I’ve got the experiences, but it doesn’t feel right for me to have this much influence over who you are. You’re just… you.”

“Rex, that doesn’t help.”

“I know it doesn’t, and that’s the entire point. I shouldn’t be the one to dictate who you are for the rest of your life, that’s something that you have to figure out and decide on.” Rex had placed a hand on the back of her head again, idly playing with her hair once more. “I guess since you don’t consider those old memories to be yours, and you don’t really have any new ones yet… what kind of person do you _want_ to be?”

“I… well…” She huffed and relaxed in his arms a bit, resting her head on his shoulder and just by his ear. “I… want to be nice to everyone. Kind and fair to all of my friends. Probably wise… a little bit witty like Nia, maybe. And caring and attentive to those I care for and trust.”

“Well there you go, then!” He chuckled lightly in her ear, holding her just the tiniest bit tighter for it. “That’s who you are, Pneuma!”

She paused, almost dumbstruck by what had just happened. “Rex, how did you…?”

“Easy. I grew up around other orphans, you know. Lots of times in which they’d mimic what the other kids did, even if it was something bad or they were bullying someone. They were only ever looking for the same thing -- some way to feel like they belonged. A lot of times, they didn’t agree with what they were saying or doing, they just did it so they could feel like they would be accepted. And if you tried to sit them down and discipline them, and tell them that they did something wrong, they almost never really listened to you. Instead, what you had to do was just… talk. Ask them what kind of person _they_ wanted to be, and not what others wanted to be. And just by giving them that space to talk and listening to them, they’d find themselves, and all the spats would be over.” Rex gave another light little hum. “Of course, I was one of the oldest ones, so I always had to be the role model.”

Pneuma well and truly didn’t have a response for him. Going off the old memories she had, and the emotions tied to them, it was easy to see _why_ Pyra and Mythra had both fallen for him -- he was so incredibly upbeat and overwhelmingly positive, that it was almost impossible not to feel good about life while around him. But, in addition to that, he was most certainly wise beyond his years. She doubted that he would ever go for it, but if he were ever offered the chance at ruling, she had her suspicions that he would be excellent at it. Call it a hunch.

They eventually settled into a comfortable silence of sorts, Pneuma merely laying on top of him after sliding back down to a more comfortable position, and Rex idly running his fingers through her hair once more. To her, this was absolute _bliss_ after being alone in the aftermath of the collapse for so long, and she was perfectly content to let him show his affections in his own ways.

He eventually broke the quiet. “Pneuma?”

“Hm?”

“When we first met in the cemetery, you… said you loved me.” Rex paused, resting his hands in the small of her back. “Did you mean that?”

She felt her face begin to burn a bit. “I, um… why are you asking?”

“Well, you said that you can’t really consider your old memories to be _yours_ anymore, so I just wasn’t sure if it was something you said because Pyra and Mythra had felt it, or if it was because _you_ had felt it.”

“That’s… a good question.” Pneuma buried her face into his chest once more, if only to try and hide her own blush. True, her earlier confession had been primarily before she had learned of the entire situation, back when she still thought that _she_ was Pyra and Mythra. But, even in spite of all that, she still felt that overwhelming desire to simply _be_ with him. He made her feel comfortable and safe, and had done nothing but show her care and concern since he had first met her. She simply… liked to be with Rex, and a situation like now was a near-perfect example of that. Just the two of them, together, and yet despite everything that had happened since she had arrived and despite all of her questions, he never seemed to mind, never seemed to rush her for her answers. He was just always patient, understanding, and caring. Perhaps the thing that had struck her the most, though, was how he had almost _immediately_ viewed her as her own person. She hadn’t been Pyra or Mythra, or even ‘coffee with milk’, as endearing as she found that metaphor to be. She was just… Pneuma. She was herself, and no one else.

She felt she had found her answer. Looking back up at him, she gently coughed to clear her throat. “W-well, um… yes, Rex. I did mean it. Not as… Pyra or Mythra, but as myself.”

“...That so?” He grinned a bit at her, pulling her up closer once again. His confidence had certainly increased by quite a bit since she had last been around him. “How about you say it again, then?”

“Er, say… what, exactly?”

“Oh, you know! _That_!”

“R-Rex! I… Pyra and Mythra won’t mind, will they?”

“Nah. Pretty sure they already suspected anyways. Knowing Pyra, she probably figures that if I had room in my heart for two, I’ve got room for a third.” Rex paused, laughing a bit. “...though knowing Mythra, she’s gonna get competitive with you. She means well by it, really.”

“Hrm.” The idea of all of this being shared with her other selves-- _sisters_ was rather amusing. And she couldn’t really deny how she felt about things either. “Well… I guess I love you, Rex.”

“You guess?”

It was her turn to laugh, a grin spreading across her face as she leaned up a bit to rest her forehead against his. “...I love you, Rex.”

“Mm, love you too, Pneuma.” He couldn’t help but laugh a little at their current situation, shutting his eyes as he relaxed against the ground. “It’s so strange… I only saw you again maybe a few hours ago, but it feels like I’ve known you just as long as Pyra and Mythra -- years, really. Sometimes I wonder if I’m rushing these things.”

“Well, you feel what you feel.” Pneuma leaned down to rub noses with his, smiling as she moved his hands from her back and to a place she could more readily appreciate, giggling as she slid her hands into his. “Hey Rex?”

“Hm?”

“I’d, uh… like to make some new memories with you, if you don’t mind.” She could almost feel the heat off her own face right now, and though part of her wanted to hide it, the other part felt he deserved to see this.

“Yeah? Maybe… something like this?” He leaned up, at first just to give her a light peck on the lips, but it soon became something so much more.

Pneuma… wasn’t sure what was happening, at first, but she had simply melted into his embrace, readily returning his affections and gripping his hands tight as she earnestly returned each kiss with one of her own. She had wanted this far more than she had ever realized, and to now have it was… beyond imagining. Beyond anything she could have ever expected. Each and every movement was met with more and more fervor, until she was forced to break away from him, her lungs burning for air. Panting for breath and collapsed on top of him, she simply couldn’t help but laugh, drawing out a laugh of his own -- it sounded like music to her right now. Still catching her breath, she looked up at him, a wide smile upon her face. “Think we could… make some more memories…?”

Rex couldn’t help but grin at that. “I think I can… help with that…”

A deal, then.


	4. Tea Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pyra and Pneuma spend some quality time together.

She awoke to the sounds and smells of breakfast. Groaning, she stretched out as best she could from her spot within the bed, quickly finding that she wasn’t going anywhere any time soon -- Rex was holding on to her rather tightly. Eyes slowly opened to show that her own vision was awash with teal, and Pneuma let out a quiet yawn as she brushed her own hair out of her face. Presumably at some point, Rex had undone the band that she used to keep her hair tied back, something she was honestly quite thankful for at this point. It was entirely possible that she would have woken up with a tangled mess if he hadn’t.

Still, this was… nice. It’s not like she was in any particular hurry herself, and she just as quickly relaxed against him once more, gently nuzzling his chest as she came to rest a hand upon it.

“Morning, lovebirds.”

Pneuma gave a quick peek over in the direction of the voice, blinking with bleary eyes. “...Mythra? What are you talking about?”

“I mean, aside from you being cozied up on top of him like that?” Mythra cracked a wide grin, wagging a finger. “Got up in the middle of the night to get some water and walked in on you two making out. Awfully impatient, aren’t ya?”

A fierce blush worked its way onto her face. “W-what? No! No no, it’s not like that!”

“Really? ‘Cause you two were going at it pretty good.” There was a low chuckle from her, and Pneuma could have sworn that grin got even wider. “He took you to Elysium, didn’t he?”

“I… yes? How did you--”

“Because we all do it. Don’t ask me how or why, but it’s like one big, communal dream. Anything that goes on there, you’re able to remember the next morning. And uh… also anything done there gets carried over to the waking world.”

Pneuma blinked a bit, her vision still gradually clearing up. Why did it… look like Mythra had her hair back in a ponytail? “Er… what do you mean, exactly?”

“An example, then. Making out in Elysium means you’re making out in the real world too, at the same time. ‘Course, you’re asleep to the rest of us, but that doesn’t stop you from doing anything.” Mythra seemingly noticed where she was staring and laughed, giving it a quick brush. “What do you think?”

“It… looks just like how I wear my hair.”

“Bingo!”

“You’re… wearing your hair just like I do?” She sat up a bit more this time. “Wait. I see what this is. Mythra, you’re not... _jealous_ of me, are you?”

Oh, how the tables had turned. It was Mythra’s turn to be on the defensive, tilting her head and folding her arms. “Why would I be jealous of you? I’m just doing this because I know Rex likes how it looks.”

Pyra peeked out from the kitchen, a pan in one hand while she idly flipped a pancake. “You weren’t doing it until Pneuma got here.”

“Whose side are you even on, anyways? I bet you’d be doing it too if you could!”

“You already know my hair’s too short for that. Besides, he’s made it abundantly clear to me that he likes my hair as-is.” With a grin, Pyra just as quickly returned to her handiwork, humming to herself as she continued her craft.

Mythra huffed, growling ever so slightly. “I can’t believe I’m being bullied in my own house.”

Pneuma simply chuckled in response and laid her head back down on Rex’s chest, giving a content sigh as she felt a hand raise up to run through her hair. It was hard to tell if he was awake at this point or still asleep, but she was fine with either -- he had proven to be a remarkably calming influence, and staying with him throughout the night had certainly done the trick in helping her stay grounded. She still had questions, of course, and was still struggling to figure out just where she might even fit at within this newfound family of hers, but she felt… happy.

There was movement beneath her, and Rex let out a quiet yawn, bringing his other hand up to rest on her back. “Mm… morning, everyone!”

“Good morning, Rex. Sleep well?” Pneuma peered up at him, lightly drumming her fingers on his chest. “Pyra’s already working on breakfast, by the way. Hope you like pancakes.”

“Yeah, yeah, pancakes are great… slept good too!” He had already begun to run his hands through her hair, grinning faintly as he did. “...Hair down is a good look for you. You kinda look a lil’ bit like Mythra right now.”

“It’s… funny you should say that.”

“Eh?” Rex quickly turned a bit, blinking in surprise upon seeing Mythra. “Mythra, why’s your-- _ohh_ , I see. Trying out the ponytail?”

Mythra simply nodded. “What uh… what do you think?”

“Looks good! You know, I always thought it would on you, at least.”

“Knew it.” No sooner had Rex turned back around than Mythra had already commenced doing a fist pump in Pneuma’s general direction. Yeah, she was gonna be boasting about this for a while, probably.

There was a quiet _ding_ from the kitchen, and Pyra poked her head out once more, smiling. “Food’s ready!”

“I got dibs on the biggest pancake!” Mythra had already begun to make her way to the table, but quickly stopped to glance back in the direction of Rex and Pneuma. “You two coming, or are you planning on cuddling all day?”

Rex simply chuckled and leaned up to give Pneuma a quick peck on the cheek. “Right then! You ready to eat?”

To that, Pneuma smiled and nodded, rolling off of him and hopping out of bed. “It never really hit me until now, but I’m _starving_.”

At the very least, Pyra had the tendency to make more than they’d ever need.

 

* * *

 

Rex and Mythra had already gone for the day, at Mythra’s insistence that he go swimming with her in the Cloud Sea. He, of course, had obliged -- it was practically his second home, and Mythra had been lamenting not being able to spend much one-on-one time with him. A lunch date for them, essentially. Pneuma had been all too happy to simply remain behind and help Pyra with the cleanup, as it meant _she_ could have some time of her own with her newfound sister. With everything else taken care of, Pyra had brewed some tea for the both of them, and they both now sat on the front porch of their home, soaking up the sun and enjoying the good weather that had been passing through the area.

Pyra was the first to take a crack at the tea, taking a long sip before setting the cup down and letting out a content sigh. “...I really do hope you’ll like it here, Pneuma. Fonsett’s always been such a lovely place. Though, I will say… it feels a bit odd to be talking to _myself._ ” Sure, Pneuma had been the combination of herself and Mythra, but Pneuma’s actual _voice_ had always been closest to her own, in tone and everything else.

“I know you always thought highly of it. I have your old memories and all of that, after all.” She giggled and gave her own tea a sip, smiling at the taste -- surprisingly sweet, with a hint of honey and cinnamon. “It always did seem like such a nice village.”

“That’s putting it lightly. We’ll have to take you to see Aunt Corinne, at some point. I’m sure she’d _love_ to meet you, though… her reaction is likely going to be entertaining.”

“Oh?” A blank spot for Pneuma. This was clearly something that had happened _after_ they had returned.

“Well, the first time we came here, she was under the impression that I was Rex’s girlfriend, which I… had to clear up. Of course, _after_ the World Tree, that… quickly changed. She wasn’t terribly surprised by _that_ news, but she did get quite the shock when she got to meet Mythra, found out that she was essentially my sister, and that Rex was also dating _her_.” Pyra quietly laughed, shaking her head. “I can’t wait to see her face when she finds out that her foster son managed to pick up a _third_ girlfriend.”

“Who is also a sister to the other two?”  
  
“Mm, that as well. That’ll be a fun explanation.”

“It certainly sounds like it.” Pneuma gave her drink another quick sip, reclining in her seat somewhat. “I have to say, it’s hard to believe everything that’s happened after I haven’t even been back a single _day_. I… have a home. Sisters. A… boyfriend? Goodness, that still feels odd to say.”

Another laugh from Pyra. “You get used to it.”

“Oh, I’m sure. It’s just… all so strange. To be sitting in that void of _nothingness_ after dying for well over a year, and within less than a day of coming back, I have all of these things. I’ve got a _family_.” She sighed, gently rubbing at her face. “...I can’t help but wonder at times if I deserve it.”

“...Pardon?”

“Impostor syndrome, Pyra. Have you heard of it?”

“I… yes, from within the archival data that was kept at Rhadamanthus. Why?”

Pneuma frowned slightly. “I think I have it. Of course, I can’t be completely certain -- self-diagnosing isn’t terribly accurate, after all. But the symptoms are all there.”

“Pneuma, are you saying that you think you have a _mental illness_?” Pyra was peering over at her, not really daring to even touch her tea at this moment. “I… think that might be a bit much.”

“Pyra, we’re Blades, and at our core, our _literal_ core, Father embedded the closest approximation he could to human brain matter. Physical illnesses are essentially an impossibility for us, but mental illnesses? Fully within the realm of reason.” Pneuma gestured out towards the open field before them. “I myself very likely suffer from impostor syndrome and separation anxiety. All the markers for the illnesses are there. You, Mythra, and Rex are not immune to such things either.”

“What… what do you mean?”

“You want me to give you an example?” She turned to look at her sister, blinking. “I just want to make sure I understand what you’re asking. This isn’t anything to take lightly.”

Pyra took a quick sip and nodded. “An example. You can use me.”

“Very well. A moment, then.” Pneuma closed her eyes and leaned back a bit, seemingly parsing over what was available to her. And then, without opening her eyes, she spoke. “Separation anxiety. Severe post-traumatic stress disorder.”

“You’re… saying I have post-traumatic stress disorder? _Severe_ post-traumatic stress disorder?”

“Indeed. Your time with Malos was far more damaging than you probably ever realized. You have nightmares about it at times, don’t you?”

Pyra’s face contorted into a grimace. She _really_ did not like to think back to that time of her life, in which Malos had imprisoned her and attempted to take away all of her memories -- her memories of Rex. It had left her far more terrified than she had ever imagined, and though the nightmares themselves were rare, they very often resulted in her waking up in the middle of the night, screaming and shaking. Recovering from those moments was exhausting, both physically and emotionally, but she at least had Rex and Mythra there with her when it happened.

“You don’t need to answer that. I already know. I’ve got all of your memories and emotions from those points in your life, after all.”

“What… what about Rex and Mythra? Are they okay?”

“You’re wanting me to tell you about _them_ too?” Pneuma sighed and sat up once more, placing a hand upon her drink but holding off on taking a drink just yet. “You’re not worried about it skewing your perceptions of them?”

“I _care_ about them, Pneuma. I love them both. If they’re suffering in some way and I can help somehow, I want to be able to.”

“I understand the sentiment, Pyra, but you need to understand that I can’t take back this knowledge once I’ve given it to you. This isn’t something that can simply be undone -- once you know, _you know_.”

She nodded and reached over to take Pneuma’s free hand into her own. “Please. If it’ll help me help them.”

There was some hesitance in Pneuma’s movements, and she took another drink before reclining somewhat and giving Pyra’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Mythra is… a rough case. From her own memories and everything she felt during those times, I’d say there’s probable instances of post-traumatic stress disorder, separation anxiety, borderline personality disorder, and survivor’s guilt. Much of it stemming from her time in Torna, alongside Addam. Though, it… seems that in the years since then, she’s recovered by a great deal. The only one that still seems to linger within her is the borderline personality disorder, mostly manifesting as a fear of abandonment -- seems the poor thing is almost constantly worrying that Rex will leave her.”

Pyra was quick to protest. “He… he wouldn’t, though!”

“I know that. You know that. I’m sure even Mythra knows that. Mental illnesses are hardly ever rational, though. They can make us think and feel things that have no chance of ever occurring otherwise.”

“...Right.” Pyra paused to take a larger drink of her tea before continuing. “And… what of Rex?”

“Severe separation anxiety.” Pneuma sighed, frowning by quite a bit as she slumped in her seat. “He’s… been through a lot, you know. He lost both his parents at an incredibly young age. Very nearly watched Azurda and Niall die. _Actually_ watched Vandham and Haze die. And then, of course, there’s… us. We, perhaps above all others, play the biggest role in that.”

She was almost afraid to ask. She felt she already knew the answers, of course, but there was still that regretful ‘want’ for clarification. “...Meaning?”

“He was forced to watch, helplessly, as Malos and Jin took you and Mythra away, leaving him with the sense that he had failed you utterly. Then he got you back, and… was subsequently forced to watch us die within the World Tree. Something that we had assumed would be a final parting, in which we never communicated our plan with him because we knew he would protest, and then forcibly abandoned him so we could save his life, and everyone else’s.” Pneuma had a hand to her own forehead by this point, eyes shut tight. “Do you ever wonder why he holds onto you or Mythra so tightly at night?”

Pyra said nothing, but merely nodded. Pneuma continued.

“He’s afraid, Pyra. He’s lost you two before, and he’s scared witless that he’s going to wake up one day and you two will be gone again, forever this time. To hold on, to still feel you two there, is to convince himself that you’ll still be there in the morning. There’s a reason he’s so deeply affectionate, and it’s… both because he loves deeply, but also because he’s _afraid_.” Pneuma let out a deep sigh, reaching over to gently pat Pyra’s shoulder. “...sorry for the negative talk. I know you mostly wanted to come out here so we could enjoy ourselves, and I just killed the mood.”

“No, no, it’s… it’s fine. I was the one who asked.” Pyra leaned back in her seat, squinting a bit as the sun now passed directly overhead. “I just… guess I never really realized how susceptible we all were. Or… I guess how damaged we were.”

“You all are lucky to have each other, really. The… issues are all there, of course, but the three of you being around one another has done wonders to keep most of it at bay. It explains why you never truly noticed any of it, at least.”

“...I suppose you’re right.”

“Though, there is… one other thing I felt I should mention to you, Pyra.” She had already turned her head to look at her sister, a faint smile beginning to creep across her face. “Truth be told, I’m rather surprised you haven’t picked up on it just yet either. If you _have_ , you’ve done a very good job at hiding it.”

“What are you talking about?” Pyra had very quickly sat forward and was now staring directly at Pneuma. “It’s not anything bad, is it?”

“No, no, nothing bad. Quite the opposite, really, depending on how you want to look at it. You’ll recall that an Aegis has all of the data and information for the building blocks of life within them. It’s how you were able to replicate the functionality of a human heart with your core crystal, after all.”

“You mean for Rex?”

“Mhm. That’s something that _only_ an Aegis is even capable of. Now, with that in mind, I’d like to ask you something else -- have you ever noticed something peculiar about your appearance? Or mine or Mythra’s?”

She had already hopped out of her seat, standing up and looking over herself very quickly. “Er… no? Is there something I should be looking for?”

“You won’t find anything, Pyra, because there’s nothing _to_ find. With the exception of Beast Blades, almost every other Blade within Alrest is distinctly human-like, but there’s always something _off_ about them. Some part of them that is most definitely not human in any fashion. Pandoria has her tail, ears, and shoulders. Brighid’s hair, arms, and legs. But…”

“But… we don’t have any of those things.”

“Precisely. Were it not for the core crystal in our chests, we’d be almost indistinguishable from any other human. This was by design, Pyra -- an Aegis was meant to be a guiding force for humanity, and what better way than to have them look exactly like the race they were meant to be helping? Our similarity to humans isn’t merely limited to our appearance either. We also very closely share our physiology with them.”

Pyra blinked a bit. “W-what?”

“You have a heart, Pyra. An _actual_ heart, beating within your chest. Blood. Lungs. Various tissues and organs. Far more than what your average Blade would have. We’re almost a near-approximation to a human, and _all of it_ was intentional. In the earlier days, when much of the world was still in recovery and humanity had just begun to reemerge once more, we were very much meant to walk alongside humans and… hrm, how do I want to say this?” Pneuma tapped a finger to her chin, pondering it. “Meant to… walk alongside humans and er… _mingle_ with them?”

“Pneuma… what are you saying?” Pyra let out a short gasp, quickly covering her mouth as she began to connect the pieces and the realization dawned on her. “You… you don’t mean…?”

“I do. An Aegis is capable of biological reproduction with a human. We have the appearance, we have the physiology, and we have all of the data necessary to create life -- the next logical step is to say that reproduction is possible. I… Pyra?”

Pyra’s face was about as red as her hair by this point, and much as she was trying to completely cover it with her own hands, it wasn’t doing much good. “I… I can… but _that means_ …”

“Pyra, I… didn’t even go into that much detail. Why are you-- _oh_.” Pneuma was grinning _very_ widely by now, leaning over to place a hand around her sister’s shoulder. “You had someone _particular_ in mind when I said that, didn’t you?”

Her only response to that accusation was a high-pitched squeal.

“It’s fine, Pyra. Your secret’s safe with me, until such a time that you’d like to bring that up yourself.” Pneuma merely laughed and shifted back to her own seat, grabbing her cup of tea and sipping on it some more. “You ought to finish your tea before it gets too cold.”

There was the clattering of porcelain as a shaky hand grabbed at her cup, swiftly bringing it over for her to sip at while she still hid her face.

At least the weather was nice.


	5. Foster Mother Knows Best

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chance encounter allows Pneuma to meet someone very special in Rex's life.

Time had passed, and with it, the afternoon had soon disappeared. Mythra and Rex returned not terribly long after Pyra and Pneuma made their way back indoors, and everyone was busying themselves in their own way -- Pyra was preparing for dinner, Rex was working in the vegetable garden behind the house, Mythra had skulked away to liberally apply some lotion to her sunburnt skin, and Pneuma was now going through the books that were available to her within the house. A good portion of the books seemed to have been of Pyra’s choosing, as most of them were littered with earmarks and notes in the margins, all very neatly and cleanly done. Based upon the selection she had, it seemed Pyra was a surprisingly big fiction buff, and Rex had even picked out his own books, though it was actually _Rex’s_ choice of texts that had surprised her more. She had never thought of him to be the type to invest much into history books, yet here were plenty to choose from.

Still though, she felt it best to try and continue to distinguish herself a bit more from her sisters, and so she picked out something that still looked relatively untouched, which consisted of a… somewhat trashy-looking romance novel. Pneuma opened it to the first page, chuckling quietly upon finding a hastily scrawled out ‘Mythra’ in the upper corner. _Of course_ this was Mythra’s pick. She closed the cover to check the title once more, quirking a brow upon seeing that it was about _Mythra_ … and Addam, Hero of Torna. “Wow.”

“Hm? What is it, Pneuma?”

“N-nothing, Pyra! Just um… going over the books that you all own. There’s a surprising amount here.”

“Oh! Isn’t it wonderful?” Pyra had ducked out from the kitchen, knife in hand as she mildly gestured with it. “Most of those were gifts for the whole ‘saving the world’ thing. A lot of the things in the house are like that, really.”

Pneuma shook her head a bit as she put Mythra’s book back upon the shelf, pushing it towards the back as far as she could manage. “It’s er… quite the selection.”

“Sorry in advance for making such a mess of some of the books! It’s a bad habit of mine, just leaving little marks in them like that.”

“It’s fine, Pyra. Truly.” She had just begun to reach for a different book when there was a knock at the door, causing her to turn. “Oh! I’ve got it!”

She didn’t really hear what was said back in response, but she was fairly certain it was a ‘thank you’ as she hurried over to the door to open it. There were a few fumbled attempts with the locks, but as they finally clicked into position, Pneuma gently opened the door, finding herself face-to-face with an older woman. Dark skin, greying hair, a kindly face -- surely none other than the much-vaunted Aunt Corinne, yet for a moment, there was a shared look of confusion. Corinne stared at Pneuma. Pneuma stared at Corinne. Both of them merely blinked at one another, until eventually it was Pneuma who spoke up. “It’s good to see you again, Aunt Corinne!”

Corinne simply tilted her head at her, arching a brow. “You must be another one of Rex’s friends. Have we met?”

 _Oh Father._ Pneuma was silently cursing herself in this very moment, so completely caught up with what was going on that she had forgotten that her memories weren’t truly her own -- she only knew of Corinne because of what _Pyra_ had experienced. Corinne had met Pyra, not herself. Worse yet, she knew she’d eventually have met the woman, but to meet her _like this_ , when she was stumbling over herself and screwing up her own introduction? _Not good, Pneuma, not good at all._ It was all she could do to simply give a nervous little laugh. “Er… yes and… no?”

That drew another confused look from Aunt Corinne. “...Are you alright, dear?”

Pneuma was fussing at herself internally even more. _‘Yes and no’, what kind of an answer even is that?_ She was botching this harder than she would have ever cared to admit, all because she had slipped up earlier. And then, as if to answer her prayers, Pyra came into the picture, peeking out from behind her. “Oh, Auntie Corinne!”

“Pyra!” Corinne quickly stepped forward to give the redhead a brief hug, which Pyra had quite happily returned. “It’s so very good to see you again, dear. Rex and Mythra haven’t been giving you too much trouble, have they?”

“Oh, no no, not at all! They actually just got back from swimming not too long ago, though poor Mythra ended up with a sunburn. Rex is tending to the garden out back, if you need him for anything.”

“Best leave him be, I know how he gets when he puts his nose to the grindstone, so to speak. I mostly just came by to ask if I could borrow some spices from you, though… I believe you need to introduce me to your friend here!”

“Right! Um… about that.” Pyra sighed, then slowly reached out to take Corinne’s hand, guiding her into the house. “I think it’s best if we do introductions at the table. It’s… a bit of a story.”

 

* * *

 

It didn’t take long for Pyra to throw a kettle on the stove, with the help of some flame ether from herself, tea was served not long after. She had already gone and tried to fetch Rex, who was planning on being in shortly after he dealt with a few more weeds, and Mythra, who would be out… at some point. The sunburn had apparently been worse than thought, but she was a Blade -- she’d recover quickly. Until then, however, that simply left Pyra, Pneuma, and Aunt Corinne at the kitchen table, and Pneuma was making a point to stay _very quiet_ until Rex’s foster mother had been apprised of the situation. She’d already done enough to complicate matters by talking, it was best to leave things be for now.

To her credit, Pyra was doing her absolute best to distract Corinne from the fact that she had yet to truly be introduced to Pneuma, something that was felt to be best saved for when Rex could at least attend the table. He was the one who had found her, after all, _and_ he knew Corinne best. If anyone should tell the tale, it was likely to be him, and Pyra could simply elaborate if necessary. For the time being, however, Pyra was more than content to simply regale the older woman with all matter of recipes and tales from Mor Ardain, Gormott, Uraya, and Tantal. It was working, at least.

There was a sound at the door, and Rex quickly made his way inside, still sweating from whatever work he had been doing in the garden. He gave a quick wave to everyone, and an _especially_ big wave to his foster mother. “Auntie Corinne! Pyra said you were here, though... sorry to keep you waiting and all that.”

Corinne had already turned in her seat somewhat, smiling warmly at him. “I’m in no hurry, Rex. Besides, you know how much I love sharing a cup of tea with Pyra. She’s always such a dear, and so many stories to tell as well!”

Pyra blushed faintly at the praise, taking a drink of her own tea and allowing the two to continue.

Rex had already taken his own seat at the table directly beside Pneuma, who was busying herself with her own drink. This entire setup gave the slightest hint of déjà vu, but he ignored it for the time being. “So! What brings you to our humble little home today?”

“I don’t know if you can still call it ‘little’ at this rate! I simply needed some spices from Pyra for something I’ve been wanting to try, so I figured I’d stop by and say hello.” Corinne turned to look towards Pneuma, smiling at her. “Though I don’t think I’ve been acquainted with your new friend here just yet! Seems it simply slipped my mind while Pyra was telling me about that time you lot tussled with the Special Inquisitor in Gormott.”

Rex let slip a faint, nervous laugh. “Right! Um, well… this is Pneuma.”

“...Pneuma? Never heard a name like that before. Where do you come from, dear? Is it from the new world? Your outfit seems so… _strange_.”

Pneuma cleared her throat as best she could and made some semblance of a nod. “It’s… complicated. I guess you could say I’m… from Elysium? And, in an odd sort of way, we’ve… actually met before.”

“We have?” Corinne blinked in surprise at the entirety of her answer, turning towards Rex. “Rex?”  
  
He sighed and rubbed at his forehead. This was… going to be interesting. “So, er… you remember everything I’ve told you about our travels, right? About Pyra and Mythra, and how you technically met _both_ of them?”

“I remember now, yes. Why?”

“Well, uh… you’ve pretty much already met Pneuma too, then. Pneuma is, or... I guess _was_ , who Pyra and Mythra really were. Deep down inside. She was both of them at the same time. I… know that sounds confusing, but--”

“Both at the same time? You mean like... coffee with milk?” Pyra was unfortunately mid-sip when she heard that, coughing and sputtering instantly, and now faced with the crushing realization that all of Rex’s terrible metaphors had come from Aunt Corinne. Endearing, but terrible. Corinne quickly turned to her, concerned. “Pyra, dear, are you alright?”

The redhead was frantically waving a hand and excused herself from the table to grab a towel.

Rex was trying to compose himself after watching Pyra very nearly spit take all over the table. It was… proving difficult. “Er… yeah. Like coffee with milk. So, uh, anyways… remember how Pyra and Mythra were both Aegises, and pretty much sisters? Pneuma’s the same way.”

“They’re triplets, then?” Corinne appeared genuinely shocked at first, but just as quickly let out a hearty laugh, eyeing her foster son. “My goodness, Rex! Three fabled Blades, all living under your roof, _and_ they’re all sisters? You certainly know how to keep your hands full!”

He rubbed at the back of his neck, somewhat embarrassed. “Yeah, well… you know me.”

“Aye, that I do. The biggest heart and warmest smile in all of Alrest. That’s my Rex, alright.” She turned to face Pneuma now, giving her a warm smile of her own. “I can see the resemblance now… you and your sisters all look so much alike. I do hope you’ve been enjoying your time in Fonsett.”

Pneuma merely lowered her head a bit in response, hands wringing together in her lap. “...Thank you. Truly. You, er… don’t seem all that troubled by my sudden appearance, though, or… anything else, for that matter. Like me already knowing who you were, for example. You haven't even asked for the full story either. Why is that?”

“Pneuma, dear, I’ve heard plenty of tall tales in my time, but none that quite reach the lofty heights of what Rex and all his friends did a year ago. If I hadn’t raised him myself, I’d find it hard to believe that he’s done even half the things he’s said, but…” Corinne took a quick drink of her tea, setting the cup back down and placing her hands upon the table. “If he says he’s been to Elysium, met the Architect and Addam, and even came back from the _dead_ with the help of you three, I’m inclined to believe him. He’s always made a habit of making the impossible possible.”

“He… told you about him dying?”

“He told me _everything_ , dear.”

“I… I see.” It was almost an unspoken rule of sorts, dating back to when Pyra and Mythra were still one, that they would simply never talk about the time that Rex _had died_. They had grown fond of him, after all, and to think about death was… unpleasant. The fact that _Rex_ had brought it up himself had been somewhat surprising. “So I assume you know how we all came back then?”

“Aye. Quite the miracle, that one. ‘The Last Gift’, as all the historians are trying to put it.”

“R-right… I, um… wasn’t exactly part of--” She felt a hand on her shoulder, turning to see Rex staring at her and doing his best to give her a comforting smile. It was strange, but she felt she knew what his intent was. “I, er… was a late addition to that.”

“I see! Well then, I’m certain the others are more than happy to have you here with them.”

Rex chuckled quietly, grinning and leaning forward. “Sure am! It’s hard to imagine life without any of them, really. We got our own little family now.”

Corinne gave him a knowing look, and another laugh. “Rex, don’t tell me…”

“Eh… yeah.”

A much more boisterous laugh from Aunt Corinne this time, and a wide grin on her face. “Goodness, boy, you _are_ greedy! All three of them?”

He quickly nodded, doing his best to hide his own faint blush. “Yeah… all three of them.”

“My word, I’ll have _three_ daughters-in-law before long.” She turned to look at Pyra, who had only recently returned, giving the girl a mischievous look. “Well? When’s it gonna be?”

It was Pyra’s turn to be embarrassed, though she certainly managed it well -- presumably this was a frequent enough topic of conversation that she was simply used to it by now. “W-well, um… we’re just waiting on Rex to get a _little_ bit older. So… maybe another year or two? There’s still so much to plan…”

Corinne merely chuckled and shook her head. “I’m teasing, Pyra, I’m in no rush myself. Simply whenever you lot feel ready for that next step in life is fine with me. Can’t take too long though, I’m not getting any younger!”

“Don’t worry, Auntie Corinne. We’re not planning on putting it off forever.” Pyra smiled and nodded, standing back up from the table and steadily making her way to the kitchen proper. “And that’s a promise! I need to get started on dinner though, I know everyone’s going to start getting hungry soon.”

“Goodness, you’re right! I almost lost track of the time. I’ll get what I need from you, if you don’t mind, and then I’ll be on my way.” She took one last sip of her tea then stood up to excuse herself, hurriedly making her way over to Pneuma’s spot to reach down and give her a quick hug. “It was so very nice to meet you, Pneuma. Be sure to take care of my Rex, you hear?”

Pneuma blushed a bit, nodding. “You have my word.”

“Good! Rex, you make sure you behave yourself, and no funny business until marriage!” Corinne chuckled and headed towards the kitchen to rendezvous with Pyra, giving both him and Pneuma a quick look. “Though I _do_ want grandkids at some point.”

Rex groaned and covered his face with his hands, horrifically embarrassed by what he had just been told. She _always_ made a habit of bringing this up. “Auntie Corinne, we’ve been over this. Blades can’t have kids, remember?”

“Teasing, Rex, teasing. You lot be good, and tell Mythra I said hello.”

“Yeah, yeah. I will, Auntie Corinne.” He got up himself, following after her to lead her to the door after she was done talking with Pyra and collected what she needed.

Pneuma remained at the table, and made it a point to keep quiet about the ‘grandkids’ thing.

For now.


	6. Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How does one remove themselves from the only thing they've ever truly known?

Dinner came and went without incident. Pyra had elected to cook up Rex’s favorite, pan-fried tartari, as Pneuma had never had it herself either -- that, and it had been her first truly ‘full’ day with them, her newfound family. Mythra had emerged from her room not terribly long after Corinne had left, and seemingly no worse for the wear, looking much as she almost always did. It seemed the only thing truly hurt from her afternoon in the Cloud Sea with Rex had been her pride, as Pyra had never gotten sunburned. Perhaps it had something to do with her being a fire Blade.

Regardless, with the end of dinner came a gradual winding down to the day’s activities, and the slow onset of nightfall ensured that. Rex had helped Pyra with the cleanup, Mythra had gone over to talk with Aunt Corinne about something, and Pneuma had simply… gone outside. And remained out there, for hours on end now.

He was sure she was fine, but it worried Rex somewhat. It was the longest she had spent away from any of them since she had first arrived. With only a small handful of dishes left to clean, Pyra had given him her blessing to go ahead and check on someone who was now presumably her _younger_ sister. Nodding, he had decided to do just that, and had quickly run out the backdoor to look for her.

It didn’t take long. Not terribly far from their house, and laying in the midst of the meadow behind their home, was Pneuma. It was still the middle of summer, and thus the field was dotted with too many fireflies to count, floating and blinking through the night air. Such a sight had been one of his childhood joys, to run through these same fields during these same summer nights, and to play amongst the grasses and flowers, trying to catch those same fireflies. He smiled to himself, even as he made his way over towards her. It seemed things never truly changed much after all, though the arrival of Pyra, Mythra, and Pneuma into his life had certainly shaken that up a fair bit. Rex could see her arm rising into the air time and time again, slowly moving about, as if she was trying to trace something in the sky. She was… stargazing, wasn’t she?

As he slowly approached her, he sat down beside her, speaking quietly. “Mind if I join you?”

“You’re always welcome to join me, Rex.” Her hand rose up again, moving about and pointing at various… things.

“What are you doing?”

“Updating the catalog.”

He blinked. “Updating the… catalog? Looked like you were just looking at the stars.”

“They’re one and the same to me.” Pneuma faintly giggled, tracing out another shape in the sky. “I’ve been away for a year, after all, so… I need to keep myself up-to-date. Plotting out the positions of the stars, constellations, and the moon, reversing their positions based upon the tides and the planet’s rotation to figure where they were however many months ago… it’s all necessary.”

“Necessary for what?” Rex laid down beside her, propping up his own head with his arms as he stared up at the heavens. He had done plenty of stargazing before -- he had even navigated by them in the past, after all. He had just never given it _this_ level of thought before.

“I’ve… been doing some thinking. At my most basic, I’m a hyper-advanced processor the likes of which the world will very likely _never_ see again. I have within me the collective knowledge of countless civilizations, all long dead. What I know far, _far_ outstrips what the most brilliant academics of Alrest are even capable of. In a way, I… feel I have an obligation of sorts to share that information with humanity.” She smiled faintly, tracing another outline before glancing in his direction. “And so, I’m updating the catalog.”

“That’s awfully noble of you, Pneuma.”

Another smile from her. “...thank you. I like to think that, with what knowledge I can share, I might be able to drastically improve the quality of life for countless people. The scientific and medical breakthroughs alone would be immense, not to mention the improvements to navigation that highly detailed star charts could provide. An Aegis ought to be known for more than just their destructive capabilities.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true. I mean, everyone already knows that you guys helped save the world and all that, so I don’t think you have to worry about that too much anymore.” He kicked one foot on top of the other and sighed a bit, glancing in her direction. “Do you ever just… stargaze to be stargazing?”

She paused, lowering an arm as she turned to face him through the blades of grass. “What do you mean?”

“Just… you know. Don’t really put any thought into it. You just look up and admire everything above you. I used to do it all the time as a kid.”

“I… try to, at times. I always did find the celestial to be so very interesting, to just… look up and see so much more before you, always out of reach. It’s enough to make you feel so very small, at times, to know that there’s countless other stars out there, perhaps with their own Alrests.” Pneuma sighed, dropping her hands to rest on her own ponytail that had splayed out beneath her. “Though at some point, it all just sort of goes back to numbers and names for me. The sense of joy and wonder gives way to the logical, and I just go right back to updating information within my head.”

“...seems kinda sad, if you ask me. Reminds me of Mòrag a bit.”

She blinked at that, moving through the grass closer to him. “Meaning?”

“You just… don’t know how to turn ‘off’. Mòrag is always so serious, and almost unwilling to let herself have any kind of free time to _enjoy_ much of anything. And here you are, talking about how much you like to stargaze but how all you can ever do is just try and categorize them all.” Rex turned to her and grinned somewhat, giving her forehead a gentle poke. “We just gotta figure out how to flip that switch so you can just enjoy something for the sake of it.”

“...that’s the problem, Rex.” She reached a hand over to take one of his into her own, lightly squeezing it. “I’ve barely been back a day, I’m still trying to find myself, and… I don’t think I know _how_ to just ‘turn off’. I just… know that I was one of the three cores for the Trinity Processor on Rhadamanthus. Sometimes I feel like analyzing is just _all_ I really know how to do.”

“Then let me help you.”

Pneuma paused, blinking as she turned to face him. “...how?”

“You mentioned that the stars had names, yeah? I… didn’t know that _any_ of them had names. I’ve used them to help navigate the Cloud Sea before, sure, but I didn’t really know anything about them at all.” He gave her hand a squeeze in return, fingers intertwining with hers. “Could you tell me more about them?”

“I… yes, I can do that. I suppose we should start with some constellations, then.” She slowly brought a hand up, the very same one that was holding Rex’s, and gently let go to grab his arm by the wrist and guide it about. He had already extended a finger, seemingly at the ready. “It’s the middle of summer, so we have the Summer Triangle over here, made up by Altair, Deneb, and Vega.”

Rex simply watched quietly as Pneuma moved his arm about, stopping at each named star and slowly tracing the outline of a triangle for him. “Ohh, I see it now!”

“Now, even though the Summer Triangle is made up by Altair, Deneb, and Vega, each of _those_ stars also makes up part of their own constellations. Altair is part of Aquila, the eagle, and Deneb makes up part of its companion, Cygnus, the swan. Here, let me show you Cygnus…” Starting with Deneb, she slowly moved his arm about from point to point, much like she had before. “Deneb is the tail, and moving down to here is Albireo, or Beta Cygni. That’s a binary system, with _two_ stars, which makes up the swan’s head. And _this_ , over here, is Sadr, or Gamma Cygni. That’s its chest.”

“...doesn’t look much like a bird to me. I can _kinda_ see it though.”

Pneuma laughed faintly. “The ancient astronomers who helped plot out these constellations were often just going by vague shapes, and saying that they resembled various things made them easier to spot in the night sky.”

“Makes sense, I suppose.” There were some more footsteps in the grass behind them, and Rex felt his head be gently lifted up and placed back down upon something warm -- Pyra’s lap. He looked up at her and smiled, giving her a small wave with his free hand. “You come to join the astronomy lesson too?”

Pyra seemed more content to simply sit there with Rex’s head in her lap, and to affectionately play with his hair. “I mostly just came out here to see what you two were up to. I’m… not interrupting, am I?”

Pneuma turned towards her sister and gave a smile of her own, shaking her head somewhat. “Not at all, I had just finished with one constellation and was getting ready to move on to another.”

“Mm, continue on, then. I’ll just watch and listen. It’s a nice night out anyways.”

“Right then.” She resumed her little lesson, moving Rex’s hand to point towards another part of the night sky. “Recall that this star is Vega. Vega is part of Lyra, the name being derived from an ancient musical instrument. Over here is Sheliak, or Beta Lyrae, an odd sort of binary system in which the two stars are so close together that they almost look egg-shaped. And then this one is Epsilon Lyrae, which is _two_ binary systems that orbit one another.”

Rex blinked a bit, squinting as he followed the path drawn by his own arm. “So it’s… four stars then? All in one spot?”

“Correct.”

“Wow. How many more places are out there like that?”

“Innumerable.” Pneuma smiled a bit, letting go of Rex’s arm and allowing him to drop it back to the ground. “Every star you see may very well have another star around it, or another two stars. Maybe more. Every star might very well be a _galaxy_ instead, and that galaxy filled with its own countless stars. Those stars might very well have their own systems, and their own planets. Some of those worlds might not be unlike ours, lush and teeming with life. Or they might be desolate, barren rocks floating through the cold void of the cosmos. We all live in the midst of a vast, near-infinite universe. It’s wonderful, isn’t it?”

There were more footsteps, and then the sound of more grass being pushed aside, as Mythra took her own place beside Rex and opposite Pneuma. “Sure, though it seems Pyra’s got competition for being the resident bookworm.”

“I’m happy to just share the title with Pyra rather than fight over it.” Pneuma abruptly sat up and reached across Rex to try and get to Mythra, succeeding instead in just lightly tapping her on the shoulder. “Though if you’re going to be here, Mythra, I could use your help with something related to all of this.”

“My… help? With what?”

“I was wondering if you could use some light ether to project a map of the summer’s constellations. Something… closer and easier to follow along with.”

Mythra tilted her head, blinking somewhat. “You want _me_ to project a map for you? Couldn’t you have done that yourself?”

“I’m sure I could have -- I’m essentially chromatic in alignment, after all. But, you’re here, and I… thought it would be a good way to include you.” She reached across yet again and took hold of Mythra’s hand, bringing it over until it was almost directly above Rex. “I can transfer the data to you, the rest should be simple enough.”

“I mean… I gu--” Mythra stopped mid-sentence and winced somewhat, giving her head a quick shake. “Okay, sure, send it anyways before I’ve even finished saying anything.”

A grin and a wink from Pneuma. “I already knew what you’d say. I can wait next time though, if it’ll make you feel better.”

“ _Please_? Exchanging data like that always gives me the shivers. Just… ugh, just gimme a sec to get this set up.” She huffed and quickly conjured up some light ether within the palm of her hand, and in a manner not terribly unlike what Pyra did with the bonfire all those months ago, simply… blew on it, scattering it to the winds. Within that glittering and floating ether, a map of golden light slowly began to materialize -- the very same star chart that Pneuma had been piecing together. “There. Good enough?”

“Perfect! Thank you, Mythra.” With a smile, she had already hopped to her feet, and had begun to manipulate the map in front of herself. Stars, planets, nebulae, and other heavenly bodies all moved about and took their respective places, and with a finger, she drew connecting lines between several stars. These lines gradually took shape, becoming the constellations, and with a little more work on her part, she had managed to overlay some more ‘traditional’ depictions of the very things that said constellations were even supposed to be based upon. It was _much_ easier to visualize this way, at least, and Rex already looked absolutely in awe. “And here we are. A much more localized, and easier to view method of looking at the heavens.”

Rex gingerly reached up at it, hand brushing aside some of the ether. “So _all_ of this is… above us? Right now?”

“For the most part, yes. Accounting for planetary rotation and celestial movements, there’s going to be _some_ discrepancy. Not everything on the map is visible at this very moment, but it _is_ up there.”

“That’s incredible, Pneuma! But…” He brought his hand back down to his side, gently sighing as he felt Pyra’s fingers run through his hair. “I… kinda liked it more when we were just all laying down together and you were pointing out everything to me.”

“You… prefer that? But… the projection is more detailed, and--”

“You’re doing it again, Pneuma. You gotta flip that switch off and _let it go_.” He was looking right at her now, and she couldn’t help but be struck by how… _sad_ he looked. How sad he _sounded_. “I appreciate you doing all of this, really, but I liked all of us just lying in the grass together and stargazing _because_ we were all lying in the grass together and stargazing. Just… all of us together, and nothing else but the crickets, the fireflies, and the night sky. Having this big old map like this is incredible, really! But it’s… not the same. It’s a completely different feeling.”

“I… I see. I’m sorry, Rex.” Her shoulders slumped a bit, and with a wave of her hand, both the map and residual ether dissipated -- _so much for that idea_. What had seemed like the right move to make had proven to be the exact opposite, as she had traded the personal for the impersonal. It made sense _in hindsight_ , but when she first thought of it, it seemed perfect. Rex had been enjoying their little lesson, so showing a map like that felt like the logical next step. But no, it wasn’t just that he had been having a good time simply _learning_ about the stars and constellations. It was that _she_ had been the one to teach him and had seemed so earnest in her enthusiasm. She was the one guiding his hand about, she had been the one to talk about how wonderful and grand she thought everything was.

And then she ruined that by making a map.

She felt a gentle prodding at her leg and looked down to find Rex tapping it with his foot, trying to get her attention. He didn’t necessarily look sad anymore, but now simply… worried. “C’mon, Pneuma. Got a spot in the grass right here with your name on it.”

“R-right.” No sooner had she sat down and laid beside him once more, she felt his hand sneak its way into hers once again, lightly squeezing as she allowed herself to simply… look up once more. The night was nice enough that they could likely linger out here for a while longer, just the four of them -- Rex, with his head in Pyra’s lap, and Mythra and Pneuma on either side of him. _Our family_ , she reminded herself.

She never caught the faint worried look that Mythra had given her.


	7. Introspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sister-to-sister time, over some wine.

She soon lost track of how long they had stayed out there within the field. Maybe it had been minutes, or hours even. She didn’t know anymore, her own thoughts long since lost amongst the din of the chirping of crickets, and of the gentle rustling of grass in the breeze. They had caught sight of a few meteors here and there -- it wasn’t a proper shower, that much she knew, but Rex had been quick to point out the shooting stars, and with each and every one of them, it seemed as if he was closing his eyes and wordlessly mouthing out something.

A wish.

She had no real concept of the belief systems that the people around her practiced, but at the very least, her Driver had _some_ investment in it. And if it had brought him some semblance of peace and happiness at some point within his life, then all the better. She had felt his own hand squeeze hers here and there, answering it with one of her own each and every time, and eventually he broke the hold to sit upright, stretching his neck as he glanced around at the fireflies. “I don’t know about you guys, but I think it’s about time to head back in. Starting to get sorta sleepy.”

Pyra had already gotten to her feet and was holding out a hand to help him up. “Bedtime it is, then. Pneuma, Mythra? You two going to come as well?”

The eldest sister was already in the midst of dusting herself off as she stood up. “Mm, yeah. Pneuma?”

She blinked in response. “Y-yes?”

“You coming or not?”

Pneuma paused. She _could_ stay out here on her own, no doubt there was more for her to document and update within her archives, but… “Yes, I’m coming.”

“Alright. C’mon then.” Mythra held out a hand for Pneuma to take hold of, smiling faintly. “Need some help, sis?”

“Oh, I… thank you, Mythra.”

No sooner had she taken hold of Mythra’s outstretched hand than she already found herself hastily pulled up and onto her feet in one smooth motion. It seemed Rex and Pyra had already headed back to the house, both of them hand in hand, and Mythra had begun her own walk. Pneuma had to briefly scramble just to catch up, but ending up alongside Mythra wasn’t terribly difficult. She _did_ note, however, that Mythra seemed to be troubled by something, a faint scowl upon her face. Part of her felt that she ought to try and address it, but… this _was_ Mythra. She already felt that she’d no doubt get shot down for even trying.

Making her way up the steps to the backdoor of their home, she paused as she felt someone abruptly grab her by the wrist, looking up and finding, to her surprise, that it was her elder sister who had done so. Mythra said nothing and instead continued to tug on Pneuma’s wrist as she headed up the stairs. Pneuma merely complied.

Once back in the confines of their home, Rex and Pyra had already stopped to wait on the rest, both looking somewhat inquisitively at Mythra and Pneuma. Rex already had a hand on his hip, tilting his head as he eyed the two of them. “You uh, you two got something going on?”

She didn’t even have time to answer before Mythra beat her to the punch. “Yeah, Pneuma thinks maybe she left something out in the field, so I was gonna go back out there and help her look for it.”

“Oh, really? You two want any help with that?”

Mythra shook her head. “We’ll be good. You two go ahead and get to bed, we’ll catch up in a bit.”

“Oh. Alright, then. G’night Mythra, g’night Pneuma” He simply gave one of his trademark over-enthusiastic waves as Pyra lead him off to the bedroom, and with that, the two of them were gone.

That simply left Mythra and Pneuma standing within the living room, and it wasn’t much longer until Mythra had lead her youngest sister over to the kitchen table. “Have a seat.”

Pneuma merely looked at her, confused.

Mythra’s response was little more than a sigh, her shoulders slumping somewhat. “ _Please_ , Pneuma?”

“What’s this about, Mythra?” Pneuma had done as directed, taking a seat at the kitchen table, but she was still largely in the dark about whatever it was Mythra had planned. “Did you… want to talk or something? You looked somewhat troubled while we were out there.”

“Yeah, well, I guess you could say I _am_ ‘somewhat troubled’. Though it’s not about me.” The blonde was already digging through some cabinets, and quickly came back into view with two glasses and a bottle of wine in her hands, placing them all upon the table. “It’s about you, actually.”

“Er… what?” She glanced at the glass in front of her, looking back over at her sister. “I’m… good, Mythra. Thank you though.”

“I wasn’t offering, Pneuma. You’re _going_ to drink with me.”

“...p-pardon?”

“C’mon, sister bonding time. I’ve got some heavy shit I wanna talk about with you anyways. Alcohol helps with that.”

Pneuma simply blinked at that. “...heavy? Mythra, what are you talking about?”

“Things that I’ve done in the past. Things I’m not proud of.” She had hastily uncorked the bottle of wine and poured out a glass for each of them, nudging Pneuma’s closer to her. “I’ve sorta been watching you since you got here, trying to get a feel for what you’re like, and… well, it’s got me worried. Because it’s a lot of the same stuff _I’ve_ done before.”

“Meaning?”

Mythra sighed, taking up her own glass and gently sipping at it. “Look, I get it. You just got here, you’re still confused about basically _everything_ \--which, I mean, I don’t blame you--and you’re still trying to figure out what your place is in the world. So you’re just sorta… trying to carve that out for yourself at your own pace. It _doesn’t_ work like that.”

“Mythra, are you... talking about Torna?” Pneuma paused, briefly eyeing her own glass. _Not now. Later, though_. “I still have all of your memories from that time period, I--”

“You have my memories and my emotions from those moments, but you _don’t_ have my experiences, Pneuma. You didn’t live it, nor did you get to live with the consequences of those actions.” She stared across the table at her sister, narrowing her eyes. “ _I_ did. I still had no idea _what_ the hell I even was, or _who_ I was. I just stumbled around, trying to wing it and figure myself out as I went. Kicker was that Malos was still around, and he was just like me. Just like _us_ \-- an Aegis.”

“Mythra--”

“I’m not done. I made my fair share of mistakes back then. I said and did a lot of stupid things, because I was completely and utterly single-minded in my focus, which was just trying to do something, _anything_ , to distinguish myself from him. From Malos. To show the others that I _wasn’t_ him. That I was… different. Worth keeping around. Not unlike you, in a way.”

Pneuma scowled a bit at her, taking her first drink out of her own glass. “...I’m not like that, Mythra.”

“Oh? You’re not? Well my apologies, then.” The blonde rolled her eyes, gesturing towards Pneuma. “Don’t even try to feed me that line. I _know_ what you’re doing, because I’ve lived it. I _did_ those same things too. You end up lost and trying to figure out what your role even is in the world, so you just… settle on something and decide you’re gonna go from there. You completely lose sight of everything around you.”

“I don’t, Mythra!”

“Sure looks like you did earlier, when we were all trying to stargaze.”

She grimaced, brow furrowing as she looked down at the table. She had no real response to that, nothing at all.

Mythra took another drink and continued. “Like I was saying. You’re not even sure _why_ you’re around, but you’re determined to prove your worth, so you just pick something and focus on it. You pour so much of yourself into it, determined to be the absolute best at it, because _surely_ if you do, you’ll just… finally feel like you belong. And in the process, everything else falls by the wayside, and you get left with nothing.”

Pneuma merely poked at her glass, gently scooting it around the table, but she could immediately tell that Mythra’s tone had begun to change. Slowly, she brought her gaze back up, taking another quick drink of wine.

“And I guess… I know all of this, because I’ve been there. When Addam first woke me up, I didn’t really know much of anything at all. All I knew was that I had all of these… great and wonderful people around me, and I could just _never fit in_ with them. I tried and tried, and it just never happened. Nothing ever ‘clicked’. And looking back on it now, I know it’s because of me -- I knew that I was ‘the Aegis’, and I carried myself like it. I thought I was hot shit, and that everyone else was… well, beneath me. I mean, Blades siding with humans? I thought it was ridiculous, thought it wasn’t for me. Because I was the Aegis. I spent _so much_ of my time just focusing on that one thing, that I completely lost myself in it, always trying to prove my worth so that maybe others would like me for me.”

She felt somewhat at a loss for words, unable to really say much else to her sister. “Mythra, I…”

“What I ended up learning, Pneuma, was that everyone around me didn’t want to get to know the Aegis. They wanted to get to know _Mythra_ , and I simply never let it happen, because I was stuck in that rut of constantly trying to prove my worth _as_ the Aegis. And it… ended up costing me in the end. Far more than I’d ever care to admit, really. So many friendships I _could_ have had, all gone to waste because I couldn’t bring myself to see the world around me.” Smirking somewhat, Mythra took a large drink from her glass, setting it back down upon the table as she looked back over towards Pneuma. “I’m bringing all of this up because I _don’t_ want you to make the same mistakes I did. I see so much of my old self in you, and… it scares me a little bit. I don’t want you going down that same path. All you’ll ever get out of it is pain and misery, and probably the greatest sense of loneliness you could ever find.”

Biting her lip, Pneuma picked up her glass and took a quick sip, gingerly cradling it within her fingers. “...tell me how I avoid it, then.”

“Well… that’s the hard part, and the part that took me the better part of five hundred years to figure out for myself. The biggest thing is just… learning that you’re not bound by the truth of _what_ we are -- we’re more than just glorified processors, Pneuma. You’re not just part of the Trinity Processor that was at Rhadamanthus, and you’re not _the_ Aegis, or even _an_ Aegis. You’re just… you. Yourself. _Pneuma_. So much of it is just unlearning everything that’s been piled up within our code, and figuring out how to just… live.” Mythra laughed faintly, even as she ran a finger around the rim of her glass. “Most of my own learning has only been in the past year or so, really.”

“You mean… your time with Rex.”

“Of course. Everything up to that point had just been… so much negativity, drilled into my head to the point of becoming part of my psyche. I was totally convinced that I was a danger to humanity, and that I was just… ‘the Aegis’. A weapon. Lo and behold, I get woken up by the physical embodiment of a ray of sunshine, who pretty much flipped everything I knew on its head. I was… _man_ , I was so mean to him when I first met him. He _really_ didn’t deserve it at all, but… I was still so _angry_ , so afraid of my past life and everything I’d known up to that point. And then he just… throws me that line about how he was just trying to keep _me_ safe.” She laughs a little bit louder this time, shaking her head as she does -- it’s hard to tell if it’s the wine talking at this point, or if she’s genuinely amused by her own reminiscing. “I… you know, I can’t recall a _single_ time that I’ve been with him that he’s ever referred to me or Pyra as ‘Blades’ or even ‘his Blades’. It was always just… Mythra and Pyra.”

“He… treated you as individuals, then.” Pneuma was already looking across the table at her sister with a keen interest. The wine was no longer relevant to her. “As people.”

“Yeah. There was never the implication that we were weapons or anything else besides just… ourselves. That alone was pretty huge for us, but… there was one thing in particular he said to Pyra that still sticks with me to this day, and was probably the beginning of my own mindset changing.”

“...and that is?”

“That our power was the power to protect. It was the first time that I-- _we_ had ever been told anything of the sort. Everything else up to that point had given us the impression that, after all we had done to try and differentiate ourselves from Malos, that we were… no better than him. That all we could _ever_ do was destroy the things around us.” Mythra faintly smiled, raising her glass to her lips again for another drink. “I had so much internalized anger and hatred towards myself, always thinking that I was doomed to a cursed existence. Little more than a walking weapon of mass destruction, always at risk of sinking yet another Titan or something. And then, after spending what was essentially our _entire lives_ believing that all we could ever do was destroy… that kid goes and shows up, and turns everything right around. It’s crazy, really.”

Pneuma blinked, leaning forward somewhat, slightly incredulous. “That _one line_ changed your entire outlook?”

“Look, Pneuma, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Rex’s attitude is impossible to escape. You hang around a guy like that long enough, it starts to rub off on you, and then _you’re_ the one that’s being stupidly positive and hopeful. Besides, words have power. To go your entire life thinking nothing but negative things about your own abilities, and to then have someone tell you that you’ve been looking at it all wrong? That it’s actually an incredible gift? It definitely has an impact on you.” She laughed, grinning and taking one last sip as she set the empty glass down upon the table. “Also helps when the guy telling you that trusts you implicitly and cares about you to the point of repeatedly throwing himself in harm’s way if it means you stay safe.”

“I… I suppose.”

“Just… give it a try, yeah? You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain, and I say that as someone who did just that.”

“How, though? You never truly said how you did it.”

“Of course I did. You just weren’t listening.” Mythra glanced across the table at Pneuma’s half-full glass. “You gonna finish that?”

“Er… no, go ahead.”

“Thanks.” Without so much as spilling a drop, the eldest sister grabbed hold of the glass and finished it all in one go, wiping her mouth clean with her forearm as she returned it to the table. “Anyways, all you gotta do is just… keep your head out of the clouds, and stick around the three of us -- Rex, Pyra, and myself. We’ll keep you on the straight and narrow, give you a couple hobbies to try out and all that. Make sure you’re _actually_ living life, you know?” She reached across the table, gently tapping her sister’s forehead. “You’re more than just whatever’s in here.”

“I’ll… do my best, Mythra.”

“Not good enough.” Mythra raised up her arm, leaving her hand outstretched and palm opened. “C’mon now.”

Pneuma blinked at whatever it was her sister was doing. “Mythra? What… is this?”

“We’re gonna make a promise. You hold out your arm and hand like this, and then we hit our palms together. Easy!”

“Where did you--”

“I picked it up from Poppi, but you ought to know that already. Now c’mon, don’t leave your sister hanging!”

“I… alright then.” Still eyeing Mythra, Pneuma slowed raised an arm of her own, hand open, and as soon as she had begun to move, her sister quickly met her in the middle, their palms meeting. “So that’s… it?”

“Yep! It’s a promise now, which means you gotta keep it. Or else I’ll kick your ass.” Hopping to her feet, the blonde had already begun to collect the empty wine glasses, quickly stopping to give Pneuma a smile. “...I’m kidding. You mind putting away the wine for me while I get this?”

“Er… of course.” She admittedly still wasn’t quite sure what had just happened, but it was simple enough to cork a bottle and return it to the cabinet it came from, even more so when it was pointed out to her. Mythra didn’t even have to _look_ at it either, she simply pointed while in the midst of cleaning the glasses they had just used. It made Pneuma question how often her sister was dragging out the bottle. “Is there… anything else to discuss, Mythra?”

“Nope. It’s been a long day anyways, so I’m sure you’re itching to get to bed. Being the good big sister that I am too, I’ll let you claim the last spot at Rex’s side. Pyra’s for sure already got one, given that she got the headstart on us.”

“You mean, all in the same bed?”

Mythra turned to look over her shoulder, looking somewhat confused. “Well, yeah. Where else?”

“Um... where will you sleep, then?”

“Behind you, of course. I’ll warn ya now, though, I’m a clinger.” A grin and a laugh from Mythra. _Was it really Rex that made her this… lighthearted?_ “You go ahead and get ready, I just gotta finish drying this.”

“Oh, that’s simple enough.” Pneuma gave her core a quick tap, sending the armor away and leaving her in the bodysuit that she had worn on her first night with them. “See? All done.”

Her older sister put the last glass away and turned, quickly blinking in surprise as she walked over to her. “Pneuma, are you… _shorter_ than me?”

“Am… am I? I thought we all had the same body?”

“So did I, but…” Mythra was already placing a hand upon the top of her own head and carrying it across to see where it lined up -- sure enough, it was _over_ Pneuma’s. “Yeah, you’re shorter than me, which means you’re also shorter than Pyra. Sure as hell wasn’t expecting that.”

“That doesn’t make sense, though! I _shouldn’t_ be shorter than either of you two! We’re all supposed to have the same body!”

“Yeah, well, guess you really are the ‘little’ sister in every sense of the word now.”

“Mythra!” Pneuma shot her an accusing glance, but the dopey grin on her sister’s face already made sure that it would be impossible for her to truly get upset over it.

“It makes about as much sense to you as it does to me, which is to say, not at all. Now c’mon, scoot, I’ve got a bed and a pillow with my name on it.” She lightly pushed on Pneuma’s shoulders to get her to move, ushering her down the hallway. “Also sorry in advance if I steal all the blankets.”

She was too caught up in undoing her own ponytail that she didn’t quite catch that last sentence from Mythra. “What was that?”

“Eh, nothing!”

She’d find out soon enough.


	8. Sand and Surf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With some planning and gentle insistence from her sisters, Pneuma goes on a lunch date.

And find out she did.

Elysium within the dream was decidedly busy that night, given that there were now four of them there, but she didn’t mind the crowd at all -- if anything, it felt comforting, to know that she was surrounded by so many who cared so deeply for her. Pyra and Rex were already in the midst of a conversation beneath the tree when both Mythra and herself had arrived, seemingly at the same time, and it was just a short stroll up the hill to join them.

Of course, they asked what it was that she and her eldest sister had done that had taken them so long. Mythra had an explanation at the ready, merely saying that they had trouble initially finding what it was that Pneuma had left behind, with an additional excuse of “it was nice out”. Neither of them saw much reason to argue with that, and they had left things as they were. Instead, the conversation had just as quickly shifted to Pneuma herself, and how she was finding things thus far.

She was, quite naturally, overwhelmed. So much had happened within the past few days, and it was still taking her a while to truly begin to digest and process everything that had happened in the time since. There was plenty she was quite happy with, of course,  with ‘coming back to life’ being first and foremost on the list. Now having a family of her own was certainly up there as well. She was about to mention something else when she shivered somewhat, drawing a look from Rex. “Mythra stole the covers, didn’t she?”

Mythra’s averted gaze and poor attempts at busying herself spoke volumes on that subject, but the fix was simple enough -- despite the loss of the Conduit, Pneuma had retained her chromatic capabilities. It was as easy as simply shifting herself towards the fire element, and she let out a content sigh as she felt herself warm up again.

The conversations seemingly went on for the entire night, and not once did she ever truly begin to question how odd it was that the four of them could be fast asleep in the waking world, yet talking and walking about in their dreams together as if it were nothing. When dawn eventually did come, the first thing she saw was Rex’s faint smile, his own eyes barely open as he idly watched her, speaking softly as she seemed to stir. “Morning, Pneuma.”

“Mm… good morning, Rex.” She turned somewhat, allowing herself a good stretch, and only realized part way through it that she had no one behind herself. “...where’s Mythra?”

“Looks like she’s already up and about for the day. Same for Pyra. It’s just me and you still in bed.”

“Ah... Five more minutes, then?” A couple of scoots left her nestled right up against him, a grin creeping across her face as he allowed her to get that much closer. “It’s kinda nice sleeping in, after all…”

“True enough. We’ve got a big day planned though, so we’ll have to get out of bed soon.” He had already wrapped his arms around her, holding her close and doing his best to block out the noises of breakfast being made -- he wasn’t sure just what it was Pyra had in mind for the morning, but knowing her, it was always bound to be good. “There’s gardening to be done, and I think Pyra and Mythra were gonna get with you to figure out what it is we can keep you busy with.”

She blinked at him through bleary eyes, emerald peering up at him through a sea of green hair. “Really? When was this?”

“Last night in the dream, before you and Mythra showed up. Something about figuring out a hobby for you or something.”

“Right…” Pneuma went silent as she pondered that last bit, her own thoughts just as quickly drifting back to the conversation she had the night before with Mythra, about her own inability to ‘turn off’ and finding some way to keep herself distracted so she could actually _live_ for once. Plenty of valid points had been brought up already during that time, it was simply a matter of acting on it. “Well, um… I suppose we should get up then, hm?”

“As comfy as the bed is, yeah, we ought to get up. Especially if _Mythra_ beat us on waking up. She’s almost never up this early.” He soon broke away from her, rolling to the edge of the bed and sitting upright to stretch a bit, and it was only then that Pneuma seemed to realize that he was shirtless.

She honestly wasn’t quite sure _how_ she had missed something like that, especially when she had her face right by his chest for a few minutes there, but perhaps it had just been because she was half asleep still. Now though, she was being treated to the full sight of his exposed back, and she would certainly be lying to herself if she didn’t admit that his surprisingly toned physique was… rather easy on the eyes. She could already begin to feel herself bite her own lip a bit, and had to just as quickly shake herself out of it. _No, now’s not the time for thoughts like that. There’s things to be done._

Tantalizing thoughts of her boyfriend could wait for another time.

 

* * *

 

“You want us to do what?”

Pyra was still in the midst of cleaning up after breakfast, positioned squarely between Rex and Pneuma as the three of them all worked together in scrubbing the dishes clean. She let slip a faint giggle as she passed a plate off to Rex, shooting him a glance as he looked right back at her. “I said I want you two to go ahead and enjoy the day together.”

He couldn’t help but sigh a bit, even as he took the plate in hand and gave it a quick dry with a towel. “But… there’s still a bunch of work to do in the garden still. There’s some weeds I was gonna pull, and--”

“And Mythra said she’d take care of it. You and Pneuma haven’t really had a whole lot of alone time since she got here, and I thought it’d be good for you two to spend the day together.” The redhead took a glass from her sister, grinning as she took a washcloth to the inside of it. “I’m sure it’s still awfully quiet down at the beach, if you’d like to take her swimming.”

The youngest of the three sisters brightened a bit upon hearing that, passing a piece of cutlery to her sibling as she leaned. “I’ve, uh... never been swimming. I mean, I know _how_ , but I’ve never personally been yet. I’ve… only been here two days now, after all.”

“Well, I guess it’s settled then, Rex. I’ve already got lunch packed for you two anyways.” Pyra gave the cutlery a quick wipe down, the last bit of dishes remaining, and began to dry her hands as she turned. “Make sure you take sunscreen this time. I know you’ll probably be fine, but I don’t know how Pneuma will fare if Mythra came back the other day with a sunburn.”

Rex had already put the knife away and was now hanging up the towel he had been using, folding his arms as he leaned against the counter. “And you’re _sure_ it’s okay for me to just… take the day off like this?”

“Oh Rex, _please_. You’re such a workaholic some days, I swear.” Pyra had already walked over and given her Driver a quick peck on the lips, eyeing him with a smirk. “We all need our time off sometimes, least of all _you_. Mythra said she could handle things today, and if she needs any help at all, I’ll still be around.

“R-right… um, well, if you say it’s fine, then… I guess we’ll head to the beach for a bit.” He quickly looked out the kitchen window towards the garden, and Mythra must have been incredibly aware that he was even looking in her direction, as she soon stood upright to give him a wave and a smile -- she had already tied her hair back in a ponytail to keep it out of the way, though the wide-brimmed hat on her head admittedly looked a _little_ funny on her. She must have been trying to avoid a repeat of the beach, not that he could blame her.

In stark contrast to him was Pneuma, who must have had unbridled enthusiasm in that very moment. She had already collected the things that Pyra had set aside for them, including but not limited to a basket with their lunches, some towels, and a large umbrella. It seemed the prospect of visiting the beach had left her _very_ excited, and she was already standing by the front door, ready to go.

It wasn’t as if Rex could even begin to dispute anything, not with how Pyra and Mythra already seemed to have a handle on things, and especially not with how widely Pneuma was smiling as she watched him with anticipation. “Alright Pneuma… lemme change, and we’ll head down for a swim.”

The delighted laugh that slipped out from her likely could be heard from the garden, and it wasn’t too much longer until Rex had swapped to his own swimsuit and they were headed out the door together. Both Pyra and Mythra each waved them off, and it took only a few short steps away from the house before Pneuma had already slipped one of her hands into his, squeezing it gently as he lead her onwards -- she recognized much of Fonsett from the past memories she had from Pyra’s and Mythra’s time here, but certainly not the path that she was now walking down. It must have only really cropped up after the formation of the new continent, and the reveal of the _true_ sea. There was also the matter of how tan Rex looked out in the sun, though she imagined much of that was him spending a good amount of time outdoors, and less in a salvager suit beneath the Cloud Sea.

“Pneuma, you doing alright?”

His question broke her out of her own thoughts, and she turned to look at him, somewhat confused. “Alright with what?”  
  
“Well, the walking. I know you’re usually in heels, but that can’t be the most comfortable thing to wear up and down hills like this, or even at the beach.”

“Oh! That? It’s fine, I already swapped that out for some sandals.” She paused just enough to pick up a foot and show him before resuming her stride again, quickly catching back up to him. “See?”

“Huh. Good call, then.” He adjusted the umbrella resting on his shoulder somewhat, giving her a sideways glance, soon returning his focus to the trail ahead of him. He wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but she seemed surprisingly _lively_ today compared to the past few days. Something had changed at some point, but… “Guessing you’re just using the bodysuit for swimming too?”

“Of course. It’s the closest thing I have to a swimsuit without raiding what Pyra and Mythra have, and besides, it’s easy enough for me to make some modifications on the fly. I already added a tiny bit of insulation with some ether before we left.” Pneuma looked down at the ground for just a moment, sounding the tiniest bit nervous. “Pyra mentioned that the ocean is surprisingly cold.”

“I mean, it can be, sure. I think you’ll be fine though. You’re still chromatic, aren’t ya? Just make like Pyra and switch to fire or something.”

“I suppose.” A couple more steps, and dirt and gravel soon gave way to sand, causing Pneuma to look up and quietly gasp as her eyes set upon the rolling waves of the sea. “Oh, it’s _beautiful!_ C’mon, Rex!”

He couldn’t even begin to give a response before getting dragged along by a laughing Aegis, her emerald hair whipping behind her as she raced through the sand, pulling him along. It was… admittedly _very_ cute to see her get this excited and happy about something, and it wasn’t too much longer until she stopped in a spot not terribly far from where the tide came in at. He blinked a bit at it, gesturing with the umbrella. “Here?”

“It’s perfect, don’t you think?” A smile, and a tilt of her head. “I think so, at least.”

“Looks good to me!” The umbrella quickly unfurled, planted firmly in the sand by Rex, and as Pneuma rolled out a blanket beneath it for them to sit, they both sat down and began to relax. The basket of lunches had ended up right between them, and opening it revealed several sandwiches and even some bottles of water, along with the previously mentioned sunscreen -- Pyra certainly _had_ been planning this throughout the morning, it seemed. “Gotta say, Pneuma, you seemed awfully excited about seeing the sea.”

“Well…” Already in the midst of divvying up the sandwiches, she passed several to him and a bottle of water before taking her own share and a quick bite. “It’s something I’ve never gotten to see before. I’ve _heard_ about it, of course, from all the old archives that were in the World Tree. There were a few pictures too. But it’s all very different from just… seeing it for yourself, you know? I could never begin to imagine that the sea had its own _sounds_ or _smells_ either. And with… how long I’ve been around by now, it’s hard to find things anymore that are completely new still.”

“Hm. Yeah. Good point.” Briefly eyeing his own sandwich before chomping at it, he quickly chewed and swallowed before turning to her. “It’s strange, really. I’ve maybe only been around it myself for about a year, and it all just seems so normal at this point. The sights, the smells, the sounds… all of it just feels like life on the Archipelago now.”

She pulled her legs inward, holding onto them as she looked at him with a sly grin. “It seems it has its own pull on you, Rex. Why is that?”

“You mean… why do I like the sea?”

“Mhm. You get that look in your eyes whenever there’s something you’re interested in… much the same way you look at me or my sisters.”

“Wha… hey!” Try as he might, there certainly wasn’t hiding the blush he now had. “Being sneaky, are ya?”

Pneuma merely giggled and grinned, giving his shoulder a playful poke. “I’m teasing. _But_ … I would still like to know. It… feels odd to explain, but knowing more about you makes me feel closer to you in some way.”

Regaining his composure, he took a quick drink of water before continuing. “W-well… I spent a good number of years salvaging, so that already gave me some exposure to it. Not the _actual_ sea, but still _a_ sea. Same consistency as water too. That, and I only found out somewhat recently that my mum used to make boats, before she had me.”

“Really?” She scooted a bit closer to him, brushing some of her own hair out of her eyes. “Could you tell me more about her?”

“That’s… about the best I can do, really. There’s still so much I _don’t_ know about her, and everything I do learn is always in bits and pieces. I know I probably got most of my looks from her, given that she was Leftherian, but that’s kinda it.”

“Doesn’t that seem kinda sad, though?” A couple of scoots closer, until she was right next to him. “Not knowing much at all about your parents?”

He shrugged somewhat, taking another bite out of his lunch. “I mean, yes and no? On the one hand, I’m sad for not knowing more because I don’t really know much at all about what my parents were like or where my family even came from, but… on the other hand, I knew them for such a short amount of time in my life that it doesn’t really _feel_ sad? Hard to be upset over losing someone that you don’t really have any memory of anymore.”

She leaned against him, gently placing a hand upon his leg. “ _That_ seems sad.”

“Sorry if it sounds cold of me or something, but… that’s just how I feel about it. It’s not that I don’t like talking about it or anything, it’s just hard to talk about when I don’t know much or have much connection to that life anymore.”

“I… understand, somewhat.” A couple more bites of her own sandwich, and soon it was gone -- Pyra had at least packed seconds for them, so if they wished to have more later on, it was always an option. A change of topic seemed appropriate as well. “It’s... so peaceful here…”

He finished off his own meal and soon placed an arm around her waist, pulling her the tiniest bit closer. “...Here as in Fonsett, or here as in the beach?”

“I mostly meant the beach, but… I suppose you could say both.”

“Mm, yeah… this quickly ended up being a favorite spot of ours after the Cloud Sea receded. Plenty of times me, Pyra, and Mythra would come down here for the afternoon or evening and just… watch the waves roll in. Listen to the gulls. Dig our feet in the sand. Definitely a good way to spend the day, wouldn’t you say?”

“With you? Certainly.” She hummed a bit, tilting her head as she watched one of the gulls fly overhead. “Though I’d like to come back another time with all of us together.”

“There’ll be plenty of opportunities for that, don’t worry. We’ll have lots of chances for family outings.”

There was a faint giggle beside him, and as he looked down, he could almost swear that her eyes sparkled at the word. “...that’s still such a strange word for me to hear and say. ‘Family’. I’m… still getting used to it, if I’m being quite honest.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Well I mean… I’m a Blade. We don’t really _have_ families at all. No real father or mother to speak of, and typically no siblings of any sort. Typically. I know I’m very much the exception to the rule in that regard, but… I don’t know. I suppose I’m rambling at this point.” She sighed, resting her head against his shoulder. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, thank you, Rex. For including me in your own little family.”

A grin and a quick hug from him as he softly laughed. “Hey, you were part of the family the moment you came back! Don’t worry about it too much, yeah?”

A brief nod from her.

“You ready to get some swimming in?”

A more fervent nod, enough to get her ponytail bouncing a bit.

“Knew that’d get you excited. Now, before we go running out, sunscreen first. You mind getting my back for me?”

Pneuma quickly sat upright, blinking at him a bit. “...pardon?”

He simply looked at her, the tube of sunscreen already in hand. “Well I can’t exactly reach it myself, so I’ll need you to get my back for me. I doubt I’m gonna burn or anything, but if Pyra brought it up, I already know she’ll talk my ear off if I come back red.”

“R-right. Um. Yes, I... I suppose I can do that for you!” She had already snatched it out of this hand, and with Rex having already turned for her, there was logically only one thing left to do -- the hard part was overcoming her own nerves. “C-certainly!”

Her own nervousness had started to bleed over into her movements, her hands shaking a bit as she removed the cap, causing it to tumble into the basket somewhere. They were effectively dating. They had already held hands, slept in the same bed together, and even made out. _Why am I getting so anxious over this?_ Squeezing as gently as she could, she placed a good amount of sunscreen into her own hand and rubbed them together, gingerly placing them upon Rex’s shoulders as she began to rub it into his skin.

She had scarcely begun to touch him, and already she was marveling somewhat at his musculature, at how remarkably toned and firm his entire back seemed to be -- she knew he wasn’t terribly old, certainly still in his teens, but it seemed all of his time spent salvaging, fighting, and working had done wonders for his physique. Just about everything she _could_ feel was essentially nothing but lean muscle, with almost not a single bit of fat on him. She could even begin to feel her own face growing warm as her hands trailed down along his back, quietly cursing herself as she ran her palms along his spine, steadily moving them in circles. The Aegis was enjoying herself far more than she would probably be willing to admit, but… this _was_ her boyfriend. It… only made sense that she’d enjoy physical contact with him.

Rather than allow herself to get _too_ low, she instead deemed her job satisfactory and gave the sunscreen back to him, using what little was still on her own hands and rubbing it upon her face. “H-how’s that, Rex?”

“Well, it’s good if you think it is, Pneuma. Thanks!”

She considered it something of a blessing that either he hadn’t noticed how long she had spent, or had decided _not_ to say anything of it. Instead, she was content to simply watching him cover the rest of his arms and face, eventually working up the courage to ask something of him. “Rex, could you… do the same for me?”

He stopped in the midst of putting some on his face, a line of sunscreen still faintly visible on his nose. “You want me to put sunscreen on you too? Couldn’t you just… switch your element to fire? Pyra’s never gotten sunburnt in all the times that we’ve come down here. I think she’s just flat-out immune to it.”

“W-well, sure, I could. But better safe than sorry, right?”

“Good point. Aegis or not, seems you lot can still get hurt by plenty of things. Mythra knows that personally, came back red as Pyra’s hair last time she was down here with me.” Rex already had a smile upon his face, motioning with his finger for her to turn around. “Dunno how much of you I’ll be able to get, but I’ll do my best!”

“I have the utmost confidence in you.” A faint giggle from her, even as she reached back behind herself to grab the generous length of her ponytail and throw it over her own shoulder to give him some room to work.

She felt a shiver run down her spine as a small amount of surprisingly cold sunscreen ended up on her neck, soon followed by the faint sensation of one of his fingers running along it, no doubt to carry more over to her own shoulders and arms. His own hands were… gentle, yet strong, in a manner that she hadn’t quite felt just yet. Fighting the grin that was spreading across her face as she felt him work the lotion into her shoulders and arms was nigh impossible, and she eventually decided to just let it be -- this was supposed to be their day in the sun, and she had every intention on enjoying it. There was another feeling upon her neck, almost bordering on _tickling_ , as she felt his fingers gently rub at the nape, and once they pulled away, she allowed herself a content sigh.

His voice was quiet, though gentle, with the slightest traces of affection in it. “Should be good to go now, Pneuma.”

“Y-yes… thank you, Rex.” It was probably a good thing that the afternoon ended up being somewhat warm out, as it meant she had an excuse for her flushed skin. “So… swimming now?”

“You know it!” He had already hopped to his feet, dusting some of the sand off himself, and gave her an outstretched hand to help her up. “A dip in the ocean is always a good time, if you ask me.”

With a smile, she took hold of his hand, allowing herself to be pulled up right beside him, and leaning into him somewhat as she gained her footing. “...I’m sure it always is with you.”

“And Pyra called me the charmer. C’mon, you.”

Still hand in hand, he slowly lead her out into the surf, laughing aloud as she yelped and jumped from the first cool wave that struck her legs. It was certainly colder than she had likely imagined it to be, but she was adjusting quickly enough. Perhaps another benefit of her being chromatic, though it was still far too early to truly say. A few more steps and they were already up to their waists, with Pneuma’s hair already beginning to splay out behind her, and not terribly unlike the color of the sea foam mixed in with the tides.

He called out to her, still chuckling every time a new wave crashed into her and left her squealing. “Whaddya think so far?”

“I-it’s cold!”

“Besides that?”

“It’s… kinda fun!” She yelled just the tiniest bit louder as she jumped alongside a wave, sending her several feet higher than she was expecting, and causing her to burst into a fit of giggles upon landing. “I feel like I could spend all day out here!”

“Well, can’t do that without some more meals, and I’m sure Pyra and Mythra would eventually start worrying. Besides, can’t have you out here too long and shriveling up, can we?”

“No, I suppose not… still, this is more than I ever expected.” She briefly sucked up a bit of seawater, promptly spitting it back at him and giggling some more. “Like naturally salty water!”

Her own ‘attack’ was met with a reprisal as he sent a hand through the water, kicking up a wave to splash at her with. “Oi! You’re gonna regret that!”

“I think today might be the day the Master Driver meets his match!” With little warning, she launched herself right at him, tackling him into the water and causing them both to pop back to the surface, laughing in spurts as they clung to one another.

From one of the nearby cliffs, a much smaller Titan briefly picked up his head from his nap, did a double-take upon spying the scene below, and promptly went back to sleep.

_Is there anything that boy doesn’t get himself into these days?_


	9. Confidante

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where sand meets sea, a girl by her lonesome gives her thanks to one who will never hear it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit shorter than usual but also I wanted to squeeze in more fluff before planned angst. :^)
> 
> Also headcanon names making a return from Mercurial.

He thought they might return later that day, after she had presumably tired of swimming.

Yet she didn’t. _They_ didn’t.

Pneuma had very quickly proven to be inseparable from the sea, splashing and playing about in the sand and surf as if she was having the time of her life… and given how short her life had been thus far, it certainly had been. This had been her very own Elysium of sorts, wholly unique from the one that she ordinarily shared with her sisters, and she had surely never encountered anything like it before. For the first time in as long as she could remember, stretching back through the centuries to Mythra’s time in Torna, things had felt… new. _Fresh_ , even. It was a sensation she wasn’t accustomed to, yet she reveled in it.

Not long after it had become apparent that she had no intentions of leaving, Rex admitted defeat, and took a temporary leave of absence to inform Pyra and Mythra of the change in plans. It meant a brief moment of solitude for her, the first time since she had arrived in Fonsett in which she was well and truly alone, and… it meant she could finally do something she had been meaning to do. On the very edge of where the waves met the shore, she took a seat upon the beach, allowing her ponytail to simply roll with the tides as they came and went. Her eyes closed, giving herself the chance to _feel_ the motion of the water as it crashed against her body, and she spoke softly, as if to the ocean itself.

“...hello Karyna. We… haven’t really met before. Not directly, at least. I talked to you in the past, as… as Pyra, the girl Rex introduced to you. It’s… been a while, hasn’t it? Over a year, in fact. I’m terribly sorry about that.”

She pulled her legs to her chest, digging her feet into the sand somewhat.

“My name is Pneuma. I’m… an Aegis, like Pyra and Mythra. Their sister, I guess you might say. I um… wanted to say a few things to you, while I’m alone like this. I suppose first of all, I should tell you that you’d no doubt be _very_ proud of your son right now, given everything that he’s done. It’s not every day that a young man on his lonesome can manage to unite the entire world _and_ save it, not to mention everything else he’s accomplished.”

A brief pause, as she simply listened to the sound of the waves and the gulls — it would no doubt be the only responses she would get.

“I have to admit, ‘Savior of Alrest’ _is_ a rather lofty title, but it’s quite fitting for someone like him… though I suppose ‘Master Driver’ is about equal on the honorifics. He deserves every bit of it, much as he might like to try and be humble about it. It’s always _very_ like him to try and act modestly, you know. I’ve heard from my sisters how much he helps around the village, and how often he went out of his way to help the others after Elysium was formed, during the rebuilding process.”

Her eyes had opened again by this point, staring out towards the horizon at the setting sun. There was surely still more to be said, even though she would never get an answer from the one she was speaking to.

“Rex is a truly wonderful person, though. To be completely honest, I… don’t think I’d even be here right now if it weren’t for him. I doubt my sisters would either. He didn’t just save people from the destruction others wished to cause, he saved my sisters and I from _ourselves_. Pyra and Mythra, in their... despair and anguish, had wanted nothing more than to leave the world forever, and… he made sure that didn’t happen. He showed us how much he cared, and how adamant he was in ensuring we were safe and happy, and… in doing so, I suppose _I_ ended up getting rescued. It was through his actions that I came into being once again. I guess, Karyna, that this is all just a very long-winded way of me thanking you for your son’s presence. I consider myself truly fortunate that I’ve been able to know him, but also that I… get to be _with_ him.”

Pneuma faintly giggled as another wave crashed against her shins and she allowed herself to relax a bit, simply sitting cross-legged within the shallow waters of the beach.

“I bet you didn’t know about that one, did you? It’s not like I can blame you. It was only a _very_ recent development, after all. I do hope you don’t mind your son having three girlfriends, but I assure you, we’re all _quite_ happy with the arrangement. To be loved by someone like him is… everything I could have ever hoped for. My only wish is that I can make him as happy as he’s made me in my brief time here thus far.”

Another roll of the waves, and another distant cry of a gull as it circled above.

“Fonsett’s been a very lovely village, by the way. Everyone’s been so warm and friendly… I’m sure you would have really liked it here. And it’s so _peaceful_ and quiet. No doubt that’s why you were trying to come here in the first place, to… get away from someone, or something. I’m just… sorry that you couldn’t be here to see all of this, and to see everything that Rex has done. But please, don’t worry about him _too_ much. My sisters and I have every intention of taking _very_ good care of him, and making sure he gets all of the love that he deserves. I promise.”

She shuffled her feet a bit within the water, blinking a bit in surprise as she felt her toe bump against something. After a bit of feeling around, she soon retrieved the object in question — a seashell. Pulled from the waters, and within the dying light of the sun, it was soon obvious that it looked almost opalescent when held at just the right angle. A smile slowly began to creep across her face.

“Ah, I _see_. A gift, then? Is this something from you to me, as a symbol of my vow to be with your son?” Another light, airy laugh slipped out of her as she held it aloft, viewing the countless colors within her newly found prize. “...it’s beautiful. Thank you, truly. I… think I understand why he feels such an attachment to the sea now. Just… being able to see the water stretch out to the horizon, going on forevermore, as far as the eye can see. It’s breathtaking.”

Her hands reached behind herself, still gripping the seashell tightly as she leaned upon them and took in the sights before her.

“...I suppose we have you to thank for that, don’t we? That boundless sense of curiosity and fascination with the world around him. It’s… admittedly odd to think that, if it weren’t for that, he might never have touched our Core Crystal within that ship. I guess, in a way, it means that _you_ helped save the world, hm?”

There were foot steps—several—in the sands behind her. It seemed Rex had returned with others in tow, and it meant that her own time with his mother was at an end.

“I have to be going now, Karyna. It was… nice to speak with you again. I’m sure we’ll talk soon enough.”—

The sound drew closer now, and there was a soft sigh as someone crouched beside her, placing one hand upon her shoulder. The grip it gave made it quite clear who it belonged to — her boyfriend. “Who were you talking to, Pneuma?”

“Well…”

 

* * *

 

The words she had spoken to Rex had very clearly been meant solely for him. After all, it had been his one of his own parents that had been involved, and not once did he give any indication that she had acted strangely for speaking to the ocean as if it was his dead mother. Instead, he had simply treated it like it had been yet another conversation, much like one she might have with Aunt Corinne. His own inquiries had been short and succinct — ‘what did you talk about’, ‘what did she say’, and things of a similar nature.

She had also made it a point to show him the shell that she had found, making sure to mention that it had been a gift from his mother. His own expression had softened greatly upon hearing that, and he simply gave an understanding nod and a smile. Nothing else needed to be said on the matter.

Not long after, Pneuma discovered that the additional footsteps she had heard earlier had belonged to her sisters. It seemed Rex had convinced both of them to come down to the beach with him, and both of them had brought baskets along, soon revealed to be carrying various ingredients — ‘a beachside barbeque’, as Pyra had declared it. But, they would of course need something to cook up for it to be a proper barbeque, and brandishing a fishing spear, her Driver had already dove beneath the waves in search of it. The best she could do to aid him was to simply stand at the ready with a net, to hold whatever it was he caught, and he had _very_ quickly proven to be an incredibly proficient fisherman. _Not as if it’s surprising_ , she thought to herself. It seemed it came rather naturally for him. Perhaps he could teach her, at some point.

They soon returned to the beach, proudly displaying all the fish they had caught to Pyra, and with a skill befitting her capabilities as a cook, she had deftly sorted through what she had and had not been satisfied with. Those she rejected had been mercifully returned to the sea, and those that did not were quickly gutted by a waiting knife. She had even made sure to give a bit of instruction to Pneuma, showing her the proper ways to go about gutting and cleaning a fish, as well as the best way to dispose of the organs. In the midst of all of this, Rex had been showing Mythra how to go about making a fire pit with which they could cook their meal — a simple hole in the ground, molded and given shape by any loose pebbles that had found on the path down to their spot, and a flat rock placed on top. The rock would no doubt make for a sufficient cooking surface, and there was plenty of driftwood lying around to use as tinder.

And so it was that the meal of the evening ended up being a healthy heaping of smoked and cooked fish with some grilled vegetables on the side, all of it having been cooked and mixed together several times throughout. While it lacked the normally refined tastes of Pyra’s cooking from the kitchen, there was still something delightfully… rustic, about simply preparing a meal together upon a beach with naught but sticks, stones, and sand. The sudden shift in dinner plans had certainly been unexpected, but… it was quite nice. Maybe they could even do this more often, if the others were alright with it.

“Hey Rex?”

He looked up from what was left of his meal, soon discovering that the source of the voice had been none other than Mythra, who was currently waving a few bones in the air — no doubt from the fish he had caught earlier. “Trying to figure out what to do with those?”

She nodded, and he merely pointed out to the open sea.

“Just toss ‘em right in. The tides will eventually drag them out, and no doubt something will clean what’s left of it.”

“And you’re sure that’s safe?”

“Mythra, there’s plenty of stuff that _already_ dies in the ocean. A few more teeny, tiny bones isn’t gonna hurt anything.”

“Fair enough. Just making sure, is all.” Getting to her feet, she promptly took aim and sent the leftover scraps hurtling through the air, fast enough that Rex was almost certain they _whistled_ — let it never be said that an Aegis was lacking in physical strength. A faint splash in the distance was the only evidence that she had ever hit her mark.

The rest of whatever else had been excess was simply left upon the beach, a ways away from their current location, and would no doubt be eaten by the gulls at some point. Moving so soon after eating was simply out of the question, but luckily, Pyra had already gotten a roaring bonfire going for the four of them. It was, after all, ‘what I do’, as she likely would have reminded her own Driver. She had also been mindful enough to pack a few blankets away as well, and had already retrieved them, laying one upon the ground for them to sit upon while the other soon wrapped around all four of them as they huddled together.

To have their little family together like this, cozied up with one another on the beach after sharing a meal together, had surely been the perfect way to cap off the day. Pyra leaned forward somewhat, eyeing her younger sister as she gave her a hopeful smile. “I’m guessing you had fun today, Pneuma?”

“I assumed that was obvious, given that I didn’t want to come back.” She giggled a bit and quickly nodded. “But yes, I did have fun today. Thank you for helping so much with it, Pyra. Truly.”

“Well, Mythra had a hand in things as well. We had our little chat, discussed our options, and we both agreed that it’d be best to introduce you to something new with only Rex around for it. After all, if anyone’s going to be most in tune with how you’re feeling, it’s likely to be him.”

“...of course, but-” Pneuma had brought a hand up to brush a bit of her hair out of her face, her other hand gently clasping the seashell from earlier. “...I quite like these little family get-togethers like this. Spending time with Rex is great, sure, but you two are just as important to me.”

“The feeling’s mutual, believe you me.” A brief flash of color had caught Pyra’s attention though, and she leaned a bit more to try and get a glimpse at the source. “...what is that?”

“Oh, this?” She quickly produced the item in question, holding her hand out and allowing her sister to take it from her. “I found it earlier while waiting on the three of you.”

Rather than simply use the light of the bonfire to inspect the seashell, a quick snap of Pyra’s fingers produced a much smaller, more intense flame, and holding the shell close just as easily revealed the countless colors within. “Wow… I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve been down to this beach since we found it, and I don’t think we ever picked up anything like this. That’s quite the lucky find!”

The youngest of the three had reached back over to retrieve her prize, smiling a bit as she eyed it again. “...it wasn’t luck.”

It was Mythra’s turn to look surprised, leaning over from her vantage point on the opposite side of Rex, blinking a bit as she stared at her sibling. “Well if it wasn’t luck, then how’d you just stumble upon something like that?”

To that, Pneuma and Rex both gave one another a look, and with a nod of approval from him, she began to tell the tale.

“You see, earlier I spoke with Rex’s mother…”


	10. Damage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After an evening at the beach, Pneuma has a night she won't soon forget.

Fonsett burns.

She knows not when or how it happened. All she remembers is waking up to the sounds of fighting, and distant yelling and screaming. She readies herself as quickly as she can, rushing through the house as she haphazardly throws on her own armor, and as the door is thrown open, she’s greeted with the sight of horrors she hoped would never come. The village has long since been over-run, and the stench of death hangs heavy in the air. She can already feel her eyes and lungs begin to burn from the smoke and the ash, but…

She needs to find the rest of her family. Pyra, and Mythra. And… Rex.

She can’t waste any time. Those who could have already fled, and those that could not… are beyond her aid now. There would be a time for mourning later, but her sole focus now was on regrouping with her family. But… something was amiss. In the middle of her sprint to the village center, her ether link had started to weaken, had begun to waver and flicker. That couldn’t be right though, could it? He surely had Pyra and Mythra with him. He’s the Master Driver. The Savior of Alrest. He’s _Rex_. He couldn’t possibly be...

The link flickered again. Rex was in dire straits.

Her pace increased, nearly frantic, and tears had begun to form in her eyes from the acrid smoke that lingered. She needed to get to him, needed to reach him and her sisters, needed to just _be there with them_. The village square soon came into view, and the sight brought her to a halt, her eyes wide as she took in the scene before her. Pyra and Mythra both lay upon the ground, bound by ether nets and screaming out to Rex. And Rex was…

He was beaten and battered, a small pool of blood beneath him as he continued to stand his ground. An arm hung limply at his side, already rendered useless by some other wound. And still… _still_ … he refused to go down. Before him was a band of several men, easily numbering in excess of twenty. He was hopelessly outmatched. She wanted to scream to him as well, wanted to call out his name, but the words died on her lips when the realization struck her — this wasn’t a battle.

It was an assassination. _His_.

With the situation now critical, she rushed to be at his side, to help aid him against what seemed to be insurmountable odds, and she instinctively threw up her arm to lend a protective barrier as she saw a distant rifleman take aim at him.

And then nothing happened.

No shield formed. The ether link between the two of them sputtered and died, as the shot caught Rex squarely in the shoulder, sending him to his knees. She cried out then and there, trying again and again to reignite the link, to lend him some small portion of her power. They had defeated Amalthus and Malos, _so why was all of this happening?_

Her lip trembled as something dawned upon her. The Conduit. The source of all her powers had been the Conduit — without it, she was almost utterly useless. The simple act of _switching her element_ was enough to briefly wear her out, so to actually engage in a _fight_ … it was beyond her. It explained why her sisters had so easily succumbed to the ether nets. The Conduit was gone, and both Pyra and Mythra were now totally dependent upon ether, like every other Blade. And for her, without the Conduit… she had been tremendously weakened by its loss, and now she was completely and utterly powerless.

Another round struck him, sending him flat upon his back, as his sword— _her_ sword—flew out of his grasp. She was almost certain she could hear her sisters wailing in anguish as they watched one of the men steadily approached Rex, blade drawn, and readied it to end their Driver’s life.

This was it. It was all over now. Her family, her happy little life, was all starting to fracture and come crashing down around her. It almost felt as if she was watching things from a distance as she fell to her knees, staring blankly forward as the blade pointed at his heart and pulled back in preparation to gut him. Rex was about to die, and there was nothing she could do. She couldn’t help her sisters, she couldn’t help him, she couldn’t do _anything_ but feel that last ember of hope get snuffed out.

She heard his death better than she saw it, her vision long since obscured by the tears in her eyes.

This was all her fault. But… she shouldn’t have been terribly surprised in the first place. Such was the fate of an Aegis — a life of tragedy and misery.

This was all her fault.

 

* * *

 

Splashes of brown and white were all she could see in the next few moments, as well as the blurred outlines of moving shapes. She… recognized them, and yet didn’t. She knew well enough to tell that she was being held, but… her thoughts were jumbled and muddled. Fragmented, almost, and yet not. Perhaps ‘overwhelmed’ would have been a better word for it.

“——————ater, please?”

There was movement out of the corner of her eye, and she quickly tried to track the source of it, wincing somewhat when she felt something touch her cheek. It wasn’t rough or harsh though, it was… gentle. And caring. Another sensation upon her hand, as something squeezed it, and her gaze rapidly shifted over to try and identify the source — all she could make out was a peculiar mix of white and gold, with subtle hints of black and emerald.

“You’re oka——euma, y——afe now.”

Others were speaking around her, but the voices were muffled here and there. It was difficult to make out what they were saying at times, especially with how many things her mind was trying to process in that singular moment. More sounds came from behind her, and she tried to move yet the hold on her remained firm. She soon felt something pressed against her lips. It felt… cold. Wet.

 _Water_.

She lightly sipped at it, and she was certain there was more than one sigh of relief around her.

One of the voices, deeper than the others, spoke up again. “—least she seems to be calming down a bit. Breathing’s starting to slow again.”

“——still seem a little unfocused.” Some reds and pinks leaned over her, and though she was having trouble making out the features, she seemingly knew it enough to feel at ease. “She’s not _completely_ back yet, but she’s getting there.”

There was an odd sensation upon her chest, and she could feel the oddest sense of warmth begin to radiate through herself. Something—someone—had a hand upon her core crystal. The voices were becoming easier to distinguish with each passing second.

“I’m surprised you know about that.”

“You’re not the only one. I didn’t know I could do this either, until maybe a few seconds ago.”

One of the voices spoke, perhaps the softest of the bunch. “Something Father implanted in you when you made contact with him?”

“Probably. Let me check a few things, see if there’s anything I can do to help her out.”

The warmth she felt shifted into a strange stillness of sorts, and the cacophony of thoughts within her head came to a sudden halt, as several lines of text began to scroll out of the corner of her eye. It was… a command line. Countless paragraphs rapidly flowed through, and what came next surely wasn’t something she had been expecting — her thoughts began to quickly fall into place, breathing and heart rate slowing to something a little more ‘normal’, and there was a sharp gasp from her as her vision suddenly came back into focus, settling on the figure above her. “...R-Rex? Wh… what—”

“Hey, there’s a good sign!” He broke into a wide smile, squeezing her ever-so-slightly within his grasp as he cradled her upon his lap. “No talking just yet, Pneuma, you need a little bit more time to come down from things. Here, drink some more.”

At the offering of a cup, she quickly finished off what had been left of it, gulping it down as if it had been the first bit of water she had been offered in days. Another hand gently took it from her, and the voice it belonged to spoke as it departed. “I’ll get her another.”

“Thanks, Pyra. Mythra, how’s she doing?”

The blonde gave her sister’s hand another gentle squeeze, shutting her eyes as she seemed to concentrate on something. “Pulse and breathing normal. Main systems are nominal, other systems and subroutines are still gradually coming back online. Seemed like a pretty nasty crash.”

“I think I’d call it a ‘nightmare’. You heard her. You _saw_ her.”

“Was kinda hard not to. I think she’s good now though, she just… needs time to settle.” A pause, as she placed her other hand over the one she was holding. “How are things looking on your end?”

He sighed, shaking his head somewhat as he maintained contact with Pneuma’s core crystal. “There’s a _lot_ of dead code. Bits and pieces, odds and ends that don’t really _do_ anything anymore, but are… maybe causing her issues? It’s like in one moment, I can know what I’m looking at and in the next, it all looks like gibberish and I have no clue.”

“Can you fix it?”

“Trying. It’s mostly clean-up, it feels like.” His thumb lightly rubbed against her shoulder, eyes shut tight as he pored over the vast amount of information running through his mind. “Working on getting rid of a lot of the redundant bits, and things that just don’t work anymore. She’s got a few strings that try and connect to stuff that’s not there now, like the World Tree. It _should_ leave her feeling a bit better, maybe make her less prone to something like this again.”

Mythra squinted at him a bit. “It ‘should’? You better be sure about this, Rex. Just digging around through her coding and changing up things isn’t something you should take lightly.”

“I’m not. I know what I’m doing.” He grimaced somewhat, shaking his head to dismiss it. “...It’s strange. It’s like the moment Pneuma woke up from her nightmare, a switch or something in me got flipped, and I just… knew how to do all of this.”

Pyra entered the room once more, a fresh glass of water in hand, and had seemingly overheard the conversation. “Probably mental triggers being activated. I wouldn’t doubt it if earning the mantle of Master Driver and making contact with Pneuma’s sword snuck in more than a few extra things. Speaking of… here, more to drink.”

Blinking somewhat, Pneuma gingerly took the drink from her older sister and lightly sipped at it whilst the others talked. There was also the small matter of Rex currently sorting through her very _being_ , trying to mend the damage where possible. It was… appreciated, though she also couldn’t help but feel foolish as well — these were normally routine checks and maintenance processes that _she_ should have been running herself. No doubt Pyra and Mythra did so, perhaps even subconsciously, but that still left no real excuse for her to lapse on her own health and well-being. She had even promised the eldest Aegis that she would work harder on taking care of herself, and now here she was, having her hand held by that very same sister while monitoring the repairs being carried out by her Driver.

At some point, she would also have to acknowledge the seemingly vast amounts of information that had been tucked away inside Rex’s mind. The very same lines and commands he was performing were ones that should have been wholly unknown to him, and some of these were even ones _she_ didn’t recognize. She felt the pressure upon her chest lighten somewhat, and looked down out of curiosity to find that he had since removed his hand from her core crystal. The entire sequence of events for that night had colored her response somewhat, her voice quiet — to go from dinner at the beach to _this?_ “...Well? How… how am I?”

To that, Rex simply sighed. “It’s… hard to say, at least right now. I think I got the worst of it sorted, so short term? You’ll be fine. Long term, though? I… think it’s safe to say that you’ll have your own fair share of issues, just like the rest of us.”

“The… rest of you? Wait, how did—”

“Not like it’s a secret, Pneuma. I found out pretty quickly that none of us got through all of that unscathed. It was maybe only the first or second night after the World Tree’s collapse that one of us had our first run-in with a nightmare.” He gave a weak smile, hugging her gently. “...we’re all a little bit damaged, but we’ve got each other, and it’s gotten us this far. And… messed up as it might sound, I think all of this might be a sign of the _real_ you finally starting to show up.”

There was a grumble to her side, unmistakably belonging to Mythra. No doubt she didn’t really appreciate what Rex had just stated, but… Pneuma shook her head. “It _does_ make sense, in its own way.”

“Yeah. I think we should maybe ask for some help outside the village though, and help you get these things sorted out _now_ rather than later. It’s about time some of the others met you anyways, yeah?”

She nodded. “O-Of course. Who… did you have in mind, exactly?”

“Well, I was thinking maybe we could talk to…”

 

* * *

 

“Nia, good to see you!”

She would’ve replied, but her face was currently buried in Rex’s chest on account of being pulled in for a _very_ tight hug. It’s not like she could blame him, nor was she complaining — it _had_ been entirely too long since she had visited their sleepy little corner of the world. Instead, she simply nodded, her ears bouncing somewhat. When at last he let go, the Gormotti took a few steps back and beamed at him. “Always good to spend time with folks you care about, yeah? Been too long since I’ve been out this way anyways. How’s Corinne been?”

“Oh, she’s just her usual self, really. Borrowing things from Pyra, coming over to chat about recipes and whatever else is happening. She asks about you from time to time, you know.”

“Really now? Guess I ought to pop in and say hello to her while I’m out this way, then.” Hands on her hips, Nia gave a quick look at her surroundings. Rex had already scampered away down the hall, no doubt to attend to something else. He’d be back soon enough, at least. “House doesn’t look like it’s changed much since I was last here. You lot finally settle on some decor?”

A redheaded girl poked her head out from the kitchen, giving a smile. “More like ‘complacency’. I’m not sure what else to do just yet, so I’ve left it alone for the time being. No Dromarch this week?”

“Nah, he stayed in Torigoth. Said _someone_ had to watch the place, and he’s capable enough that he can keep an eye on things while I’m away. Sometimes I think he just doesn’t like boats and doesn’t say anything ‘cause he’s trying to be polite. You know how he gets sometimes.” Walking about somewhat, she eventually settled on a spot, taking a seat upon the couch as she cast a glance up at the bookcase. “So what’s this all about anyways? Rex said it was urgent but wouldn’t tell me anything else.”

A nervous laugh slipped out of Pyra, even as Mythra appeared at her sister’s side. “Right! Um, well, it’s… quite complicated, really. ‘Seeing is believing’, as the saying goes.”

There were a few more footsteps, and as if to give proof itself, Rex had returned with someone else in tow. Nia had just as quickly turned to the source of the sound, her eyes widening and mouth agape as she caught sight of just _who_ that someone else was. She… didn’t look terribly unlike the eldest Aegis, in a way. But the _hair_ and the _eyes_ … this was an improbability. An impossibility.

Nia was staring at the physical embodiment of a paradox. Her jaw slowly moved as she tried to give some sort of response, her eyes still locked on the person before her. There were a few other glances around the room at the other figures, all part of a desperate search for some sort of answer as to _how_ and _why,_ but… she had already gotten to her feet again, slowly walking over to confront this newest arrival, and at last, she had found the words she had been looking for.

“...Rex, what the bloody hell is going on?”


	11. Fast Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the aid of a fresh face, the youngest Aegis seeks a solution to her woes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, I haven't forgotten about Mercurial, don't worry. It'll totally be done this month.

At the very least, she had proven to be understanding.

With her initial shock out of the way, Nia had been content enough to simply sit still whilst Rex and Pneuma recounted the tale, of how she had managed to come back just a few short days ago, as well as everything else that had happened in the interim. Admittedly, none of it made a single bit of sense, but the Gormotti had been doing her best to wrap her head around things.

She ran over the sequence of events in her mind once more — Pneuma had returned from the dead, without the use of a core crystal, despite _having_ a core crystal. She still bore all of Pyra’s and Mythra’s memories prior to the World Tree, but everything immediately before and after their deaths had been indecipherable, and though she had previously been the sum of both of her other sisters, she was now her own being. Of course, it had simply left Nia with even _more_ questions than answers, not to mention the countless holes found in every single explanation that any of them had thought of. Simply put, Pneuma’s resurrection and return defied all logic and reasoning. It had simply… happened, as either a twist of fate, or a random happenstance. Now that they were properly introduced, however, Nia could begin to dig at the _real_ reason as to why she had been summoned to their home, which was to say...

The mental state of the newest Aegis.

Rex had called it a nightmare. Mythra had called it a crash, something that required a little elaboration from her — after all, an Aegis was little more than a walking, biological data processor. Both descriptions were apt, and yet not. Regardless of the term used, the end result had been the same, with Pneuma’s emotional and mental well-being hitting a sudden stumbling block after the events of the previous night. Whatever it was she had dreamt about had left her rattled, and any attempt at coaxing just _what_ she had dreamt about out of her was proving to be difficult. She seemed extremely hesitant to discuss it in front of anyone else, her gaze often appearing distant and distracted as she looked elsewhere, and her hands busy playing with her own hair.

Just that alone had told Nia more than enough. Psychology certainly wasn’t something she had much experience with, but she still knew how to read a given situation, and this told her enough to know that whatever it was Pneuma had experienced had been about _everyone else_. There was no other reasonable explanation for her clamming up like that, but suspicions weren’t enough to go off of. She had to hear it for herself, leading to her recommendation that _just_ the two of them—Nia and Pneuma—should go somewhere quiet to discuss it. Nia was little more than a third-party in the matter, with no real personal stake in things… aside from helping someone very clearly in need of it.

Thus, they had been directed to a quiet spot not terribly far from the home, where Rex had built a small dock shortly after they had moved into the place. With a tree for shade, and some drinks helpfully provided by Pyra, it would hopefully be the perfect spot in which Nia could pick an Aegis’ brain.

Emphasis on ‘hopefully’.

They had already been sitting there for around ten minutes now, feet dangling off the edge of the dock and into the waters of the small pond below, doing little more than making small talk. It was… a start, and possibly a way to get Pneuma to loosen up enough to feel like speaking. These things couldn’t be rushed, after all. It was best for her to take things at a pace she felt comfortable with, soon culminating in her breaking the cycle and speaking up. “...so, Rex asked you to come visit because of me, did he?”

“Yeah… something like that. He’s worried about you, ya know. They all are.” Nia lightly sighed as she kicked a foot, splashing a bit of water and scaring away more than a few errant fish. But first, a quick change of topic, something to keep them both talking. “Gotta say, it’s weird to just walk around the place like this, even a year after the fact.”

Pneuma gave a glance in her companion’s direction, idly looking her up and down. “You mean, as your true self.”

“Mhm. Was so used to dirty looks all my life that I always tried to cover it up. ‘Course, saving the world and all _does_ have its benefits.”

“Like walking around town without having to hide who you really are?”

“Something like that. Folks are still biased as all get out towards Flesh Eaters, but… here? No one cares. No one’s _bothered_ by it. Most of ‘em don’t even seem to know what a Flesh Eater even _is_. I can just… walk around the place and be me.” She gave a brief sigh, a hand reaching up to gently grasp one of her own, longer ears. “It’s… strange. Refreshing, but strange. Guess you can kinda relate too, yeah?”

“You mean… being who I really am?” The Aegis’ grip on the boards of the dock tightened somewhat. “I… suppose. I’m still sorting out things, after all.”

“Sure, sure. You’ve only been back… what, four days now? Five?”

“About four,” she corrected.

“I’d say you’re doing pretty well, then. Took me _years_ to get that figured out, and here you are doing it in less than a week.”

“Mm.”

The conversation quickly died and lapsed back into silence. They weren’t going to get anywhere at this rate, something that both of them knew, and though their goals were certainly aligned, the short term outcomes surely were not. Nia wanted Pneuma to speak. Pneuma did not. _So be it. I’ll take the first shot_. The Gormotti coughed, lightly sipping at her drink before turning to face her conversational adversary. “So, what’s life been like without the Conduit?”

Pneuma’s grip tightened again. “...You knew about that?”

“Of course I did. I was there with everyone else when Klaus told us about it, and how it was the source of all your powers. I’m… guessing you don’t remember that bit, what with you saying you can’t really think back to anything immediately before or after you… well, died.” Nia drummed a few fingers on one of the boards, doing her best to keep the topic relatively light. “I’m sure it couldn’t have been easy, going from something like the Conduit to just… ether, like every other Blade.”

A derisive laugh in response. “My sisters have certainly handled it better than I have.”

“They’ve had a whole _year_ to adjust. You’ve had a few days. Night and day, there.”

“Sure, but… I don’t know.” She had brought a hand up now, flexing it open and closed and merely staring at her own fingers as she spoke. “So much of what I could do was derived from the Conduit’s seemingly limitless power. Now that it’s gone, I’m… not sure anymore.”

Nia had pulled her legs up and out of the water, pulling them to her chest as she rest her head upon her own knees. “Sounds like you took a hit in confidence, then. I mean, being able to do all the crazy reality-bending shenanigans you used to do, to not being sure what you still _can_ do. Probably especially rough for you, what with your powers being all over the place, yeah?”

“Right.” Pneuma had now begun to mimic Nia somewhat, also pulling her legs up and towards herself. “I’m not like other Blades. I’m chromatic. Even with the Conduit gone, I can still shift my element around, but it’s… not nearly as easy as it used to be, nor is it as quick. And if I try to think back to all of the Arts I _used_ to be able to do, I just… draw blanks. There’s _nothing_ there.”

“So… you feel useless, then.”

The Aegis suddenly grew quite sullen, her voice getting quiet. “...Yes.”

 _Ah, so that’s it, then_. “Guess we’re kindred spirits then, eh?”

“Nia?” She had perked up somewhat, casting a curious gaze towards the Gormotti. “You’ve… been there too, haven’t you?”

“Sure. Not _anymore_ , but… I sure as hell used to. Most of my _own_ issues came from it.” Nia had dropped her legs back down by now, kicking her feet in the water once more as she hummed a bit. “Of course, you probably never got to hear _that_ story. That was when Pyra and Mythra got snatched up by Torna, and Malos was trying to steal all their memories. Never did hear how they got out of that one no worse for wear.”

Without skipping a beat, Pneuma had a reply at the ready. “An Aegis is constantly creating backups to use as restore points should catastrophic data loss occur. Given that Rex had a portion of our core crystal at the time, restore points were likely being housed in _his_ half of the core, thereby allowing for us to seemingly return unscathed.”

Nia simply blinked, her ears shifting a bit. “...There was a whole lot in there that I didn’t understand, so I’m just gonna put it down as ‘the power of love’, yeah?”

“Sure. Power of love.” For the first time in perhaps the entire afternoon, she giggled. It would have to be interpreted as progress. “What’s this story of yours, Nia? If… Pyra and Mythra heard it, I have no recollection of it.”

“Long or short version?”

“Long, please.” A brief pause, followed by a somewhat panicked mumble. “If… that’s alright with you, that is. I’d like to hear the same story that you told Rex.”

“Doesn’t bother me none. So I guess… years back, a lord in Gormott had a daughter who was often sick. It wasn’t anything immediately terminal, but… she was a frail lil’ thing. Didn’t take much for her to fall ill. He already had Dromarch before me, and seemed fond of me. Kept telling me how he was going to make sure I became a ‘proper lady’, but… his kid kept getting sick more and more often, and it kept getting worse every time.” She reclined somewhat, staring at the sunlight flitting through the leaves above. “He eventually spent every last bit of gold he had trying to treat her, lost his status as a lord, and the whole lot of us became drifters, which… ended up being fatal for his daughter. Or I guess, my ‘sister’, as he eventually had me call her. Guy couldn’t handle her loss, and was determined that I… _eat_ her, so as to _become_ her, and that I start calling him ‘father’.”

The Aegis was clearly aghast at the story thus far, her mouth agape as she slowly tried to give a reply. “Nia, that’s… awful. I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“It’s… fine, I guess. He passed away too not terribly long after, which left me all alone, what with me being a Flesh Eater by that point. No more going back to my core crystal. I was… definitely heartbroken, a bit. He wasn’t a _bad_ guy or anything, he had taken good care of me, just… lost it towards the end. I found Dromarch’s core crystal on the floor, awoke and bonded with him, and then the rest is history. Lots of running around and away from Indol and everyone else, trying not to die, because ‘Flesh Eaters are blasphemy!’ or whatever.”

“So you were… always a healer, then?”

“Sure, just not strong enough to do much of anything for his kid. I pretty much hit the lottery, from hearing what ol’ Cole said in Uraya. Me becoming a Flesh Eater just made my powers much, _much_ stronger.” Nia waved a hand about somewhat limply, as if for dramatic effect. “But of course, what with the bigotry towards Flesh Eaters, I couldn’t really show that side of myself. I spent literal _years_ on the run, fearing for my life. Even bringing out that side of me for the briefest of moments ran the risk of me getting locked up or executed, so I just… didn’t.”

“Because you were afraid?”

“Well, fear and common sense.” Tapping a finger to her temple, she grinned at Pneuma. “I was afraid of showing who I truly was, but I also knew life was just easier if I pretended to be an ordinary Gormotti. So I… basically played the part of my ‘sister’, year after year. Sort of picked up on parts of her looks. Saved my hide, on more than one occasion. But, me hiding my true self also meant… letting some folks die. Folks I could’ve _easily_ saved, and didn’t, because I was afraid.”

Pneuma slowly nodded in understanding, her fingers currently wrapped up in her own ponytail. “Which lead to you feeling useless… being unable to save others.”

“Right. It took Rex nearly dying to pull me out of it and make me realize that I _could_ do something about it, that I had no more reason to be afraid of who I was.”

News of that certainly had her staring. “...Rex nearly died?!”

“Well he _didn’t_ , now did he! I made sure to take real good care of him, ‘til we could get Pyra and Mythra back… and I guess you, too.” Nia gave a sheepish grin, shrugging somewhat. “No offense. Hard to tell what was and wasn’t you.”

“None taken.” She idly tapped a finger to her chin as she thought back on things. “I… _do_ remember that now. Pyra telling you to take care of Rex, right before Jin took us. And also her thanking you several times over after the fact. Erm… thank you again, by the way.”

“Eh, don’t sweat it. Not like I was gonna let him die or anything, not after he helped me like he did.”

And then the conversation ended just as suddenly as it began, with the both of them lapsing into relative silence, mostly due in no small part to Pneuma having to now process Nia’s own story of her life thus far. Though, of course, there had been no ‘big lesson’ with which the Aegis could’ve learned how to handle her own insecurities from, and so the question had to be asked in the bluntest of ways. “So, Nia… how did you… handle your feelings, then? The… feelings of uselessness, and powerlessness. How do I make them go away?”

“Oh, that? You don’t.”

Pneuma blinked a bit in surprise. “...come again?”

“I’m saying you don’t just… make them go away. Mental stuff doesn’t work like that, and a lot of times, it’ll just always be there. Like even _now_ , a year on, I still struggle with it here and there. And then I remember all the friends I’ve got, and the wonderful experiences I’ve had, and the people I _have_ saved, and then it doesn’t bother me as much.” The Gormotti flashed a grin, just wide enough and big enough to show off her teeth a _bit_ more than most would likely be comfortable with. “You gotta lean on others, is what I’m getting at! You’ve already got one helluva safety net, what with Rex, Pyra, and Mythra here. You need to just… trust them more, with your problems and everything else. They’re not gonna judge you none—”

“Mythra might.”

“Mythra _might_ , but she only does it ‘cause she cares. She means well, and I’m sure you know well enough by now that she’ll _absolutely_ talk to ya if she thinks you’re hurtin’. Just… you know… don’t be afraid to get help and talk to others.” Her expression softened, and the grin turned into a gentle smile as she placed one hand upon the Aegis’ shoulder. “They _love_ you, Pneuma. They just want ya to be happy and healthy.”

“...including the mental stuff?”

“ _Especially_ the mental stuff! Bloody hell, have you not been listenin’ to a single thing I’ve said?”

Another rare—for the day—giggle from Pneuma. “I have, I just thought I’d tease you a bit.”

Rather than immediately answer, Nia instead shook her head, rolled her eyes, and gave her drink some much-needed attention after the talk they just had, though…

“Nia, I’m curious about something. How do you... feel about Rex and me?”

She immediately began to cough mid-drink, giving her own chest a few gentle whacks to help her get past the feelings, and very nearly sputtered again when she turned to lock eyes with Pneuma. “How do I _what?”_

“Well, I guess to explain further… how do you feel about there being another… well, me. Another Aegis?”

“I-I mean it’s… _weird_ , for sure. You were them and they were you. It’s enough to get your head going topsy-turvy, trying to _understand it all_.” A few more coughs, as Nia wiped a few stray tears from her recent fit. “But it doesn’t bother me none. You seem just as nice as Pyra and Mythra, so I’m sure we’re all better off having you around.”

“And… about me and Rex?”

“What? Like you _also_ getting romantically involved?”

A somewhat timid nod from Pneuma.

“Same as what I said earlier, doesn’t bother me none. If it means the both of you are happy, then… I’m happy too, yeah? It’s always a good feeling, seeing your friends be content with where they are in life.”

“Oh. Well, that’s… that’s good, then!” A nervous little laugh slipped out of her, as her hands continued to play with her own ponytail. “I was worried you might not approve, especially after what Rex saw in Elysium.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Hold up.” Ears twitching, Nia leaned closer to Pneuma. “Whaddya mean, ‘what Rex saw in Elysium’? You mean when we were doing all that nightmare trial nonsense for Klaus? You _know_ what Rex went through?”

“W-Well… yes, and… no. I didn’t directly see most of it, as Pyra and Mythra only had their roles to play in the very last portion, and they acted directly, but… I’ve been able to see the rest of it. Little glimpses here and there, through the connection we shared with him before the collapse.” She relinquished the grasp she had on her own hair, slowly bringing them to instead rest upon her legs as she dropped them back down into the pond. “He… was afraid, you know. That you’d resent him and hate him for… not reciprocating.”

“...That so?” Nia softly hummed in amusement, tilting her head somewhat as she finished her drink. “Never knew it was that important to him. That… actually kinda means a lot to me, knowing that he was _that_ worried about it. You think I should talk to him later?”

“Look at you, asking _me_ for the advice now.”

“Hey, you can just consider it ‘girl talk’, now that all the advice bit is done and over with.”

“I can’t make that decision for you, Nia. If you want to talk to him about it in private later, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”

She nodded in agreement, her ears bouncing a bit. “Yeah, you’re probably right. And Pyra’s liable to invite me to stay for dinner.”

“Rex was already going to have you stay for the night.” Pneuma leaned a bit closer to her companion, giving her shoulder a playful poke. “He thinks _someone_ shouldn’t travel quite so much or so far in one day.”

“He’s such a bleedin’ heart sometimes. Guess that’s settled then. Pyra always was a damn good cook anyways.” A few more splashes of water from her idle kicks, and Nia’s face began to look suspiciously mischievous. “Say, Pneuma… question for ya.”

A brief glance in her direction. “Oh no.”

“What are ya giving me ‘oh no’ for? I haven’t even asked yet!”

“I see that look on your face, Nia. I can only assume the worst.”

“Oh it’s not _that_ bad… it _is_ about your boyfriend, though.”

“So it _is_ the worst, then.” She gave an overly dramatic sigh, bringing an arm up to cover her face… if only to slowly drop it and show a grin. “What is it?”

Nia scooted a few spots closer, grinning up at her. “So… Rex has done a good amount of growin’ up since I last saw him.”

“Uh huh…”

“What’s he like?”

A squint. “Nia, is that _really_ an appropriate question to be asking someone about their own boyfriend?”

“Maybe, maybe not. It’ll help me get a feel for what _you’re_ like, though.”

 _A fair assessment. Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to humor her._ “...I’m guessing you’re asking in regards to his physique?”

“If that’s your interpretation, then sure.”

Pneuma could already begin to feel her face burn a bit, as she thought back to the events of the previous day, which had of course included ‘shirtless Rex’. There wasn’t anything inherently wrong in bragging about one’s significant other a bit… and Nia was a close friend to everyone else. There wasn’t any real harm in talking about it, was there? “Well, where should I start?”

The Aegis proceeded to have her audience’s undivided attention for the next half hour.


	12. Into the Breach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the cracks in their little family beginning to manifest, Rex takes matters into his own hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're gonna start delving into serious headcanon territory after this, so buckle up.

Pneuma and Nia both returned not terribly long after their talks concluded, and with dinner preparation already well underway, Rex had been pulled aside for the earlier mentioned ‘private talk’. Pyra wasn’t certain just how long _they_ had been gone, but it had felt like it probably been more than expected, given that the food had been ready the moment they had returned, and with Mythra summoned from the garden, they were finally able to have their first real meal with someone other than themselves.

Nia had been rather talkative that evening, because _of course she was_ , and once dinner had concluded, it had been both Mythra and Pneuma who had gotten out the wine glasses. Though Rex was still _slightly_ underaged, an exception was made for the occasion — that, and despite his own age, he apparently had a near-legendary reputation amongst the other salvagers at Argentum for his ability to hold his liquor. The first rule of the Salvager’s Code was probably one of the easiest ones for him to follow, if it were true, and a part of Mythra was _very_ curious to see if it was.

Somewhat shockingly, it had been legitimate, with Rex easily outpacing the others. Pyra had tapped out after two glasses, stating that it ‘wasn’t very pretty’ when she was drunk, though she refused to elaborate. Nia and Pneuma had both followed not long after, content to merely sip whilst the talks dragged on into the night, and naturally, Mythra had doggedly tried to best him in what had ultimately been a futile attempt — beet red in the face from her own drunkenness, she had _very_ quickly gotten affectionate with Rex, making her very best attempts at flirting with him.

It was perhaps a good thing they were already dating, then, given her own horrendous ideas of what ‘flirting’ consisted of.

Plans for the very next morning had quickly been abandoned once it had been realized just _how much_ catching up they needed to do. It seemed as if Nia hadn’t really seen Rex, Pyra, or Mythra very much at all after the collapse of the World Tree, nor had she seen much of anyone else in the interim, and reuniting with them had brought about story after story from her of her experiences in Torigoth since the whole ‘saving the world’ deal.

Pneuma had been content to simply listen, staring off into the distance somewhat every now and then. Something about the faint buzzing in her head was starting to get distracting, as was the steady and persistent headache she had been nursing every since she had woken up earlier that day — alcohol likely hadn’t been the best thing for her to be drinking, given that.

But… this wasn’t _all_ bad. Nia was nice enough, and funny, and entertaining, even more so after she had been drinking a bit. It had been little wonder, then, that she had gotten along so well with Rex. Maybe… it’d be okay if she just rested her eyes for a bit. They _were_ starting to get rather heavy, and she was sure the others wouldn’t mind her nodding off when they had a guest around.

And so, slumping forward slightly, she did just that... never hearing Rex’s quiet remark, or feeling him hoist her into his arms so he could put her to bed.

She was already in the midst of something else.

 

* * *

 

Nia had departed the next morning to return to Torigoth, seen off by everyone aside from Pneuma — she had simply refused to get up, mumbling a bit in her sleep, and it had been decided to simply leave her be. She had already proven to be a heavy sleeper in any case, so it wasn’t as if this had seemed out of the ordinary, and she had eventually gotten up later in the day to busy herself with something. One day passed into another, and another, and another, with Pneuma’s nightmares seemingly continuing on unrelenting. Perhaps more concerning was that they seemed to be getting _worse_ , each one drawing a stronger reaction out of her than the last, and each one taking progressively longer for her to recover from.

And then something had abruptly changed.

It had been around lunch time when he had first noticed it, whilst in the middle of trying to catch some fish for dinner that day. Monitoring an ether link was typically a simple ordeal, but with how _many_ he had radiating out from himself at any given time, it could sometimes make tracking them difficult, and it was often easier to _feel_ rather than _see_ — and he had certainly felt it. One of the ether links had greatly diminished, becoming thready and weak. When last he saw, Pyra had been in the kitchen, working on some early meal prep for the evening, and Mythra had simply been reclining on the couch in the living room with her nose buried in a book, which left…

His blood ran cold.

The fishing pole he had been holding was abruptly dropped, and he had already broken out into a sprint, racing back towards the house and nearly ripping the door off the hinges as he burst in.

“Rex?! What are you—”

He breathlessly managed a single word, already rushing towards the bedroom. “Pneuma.”

No context was needed, nor was a reason — his expression and tone alone had told them plenty as to the direness of the situation, and by the time they had caught up with him, he was already cradling the stiffened body of their younger sister, her eyes vacant and almost unblinking as she simply stared straight ahead. Rex’s hand was already upon her core crystal, brow knitted in equal parts focus and frustration, as he did what he could to try and figure out what had gone awry.

Pyra and Mythra alike had both been quick to be at his side, one taking Pneuma’s hand whilst the other sat with a hand upon his shoulder. The eldest of the three sisters had been the first to speak, tightening her grip upon him somewhat as she spoke. “C’mon Rex, tell us what’s going on here.”

“I’m… I’m trying, but… I can’t figure it out.” He scowled, gritting his teeth in irritation as he moved to press his entire palm against the stricken Aegis’ core. “There’s… _nothing_. I was able to get little reports or pick up on things here and there the other times, but this is just… static.”

“Static? Help me bridge the gap, yeah?” Taking Rex’s other hand into her own, Mythra shut her eyes tight, grimacing as she tried to make some sense of what was going on. “C’mon, Pneuma, answer me. I know you’ve got to be in there somewhere.”

Leaving one of the sisters to her work, Rex instead turned to the other. “Pyra? How’s her vitals?”

The redhead sighed a bit, even as she gently squeezed Pneuma’s hand. “...stable. Normal, even, which is what bothers me. Her pulse and breathing are fine, but I’m… not finding anything else. It’s like…”

“Like the lights are on but nobody’s home.”

“Yes. Catatonia.”

There was a growl of aggravation to his side, causing him to turn back towards Mythra. “You get anything?”

Mythra instead squeezed his hand even harder. _“No._ Or rather, I _did_ , and it’s making me wish I _hadn’t_.”

“That’s… more than a little ominous.”

“Yeah, well, whatever you fixed a few days back? _Magically_ undone, and now a million times worse.” At last relinquishing her hold on him, she finally opened her eyes, her expression softening as her gaze met his. “It’s… nothing you did, so _please_ don’t blame yourself for it. But it’s just… whatever could go wrong, _has_. It’s no wonder you couldn’t make heads or tails of what you were even seeing. It was all basically just garbled code, every single bit of it.”

“... _all_ of it?”

“Yeah. The whole thing was violently unstable. It’s…” She started to slump, lip quivering as she began to stare at her sister’s body. “Rex, I don’t… know if there’s anything we can do for her.”

To hear language like that out of one of them certainly left him a little rattled. “Mythra... c’mon now, you can’t mean that.”

“Well—”

“I mean, look at all the things we’ve done! Even you two beat the odds! We’ve… done the impossible before, yeah? What’s to stop us from doing it again?”

“Rex, please.” It had been a different voice this time, taking him by surprise and causing him to turn again — Pyra. “I… I know you’ve made a habit of making the impossible possible, but… there’s so much about Pneuma that already defies all explanation. And it means that something like this is beyond comprehension. Mythra and I, both of us Aegises, don’t know what’s wrong with her either. We… don’t know how to fix this. We don’t know if it _can_ be fixed.”

He instead turned his attention back towards Pneuma, his jaw slowly working itself as he struggled for an answer. Hand still firmly pressed against her core crystal, all he continued to hear was the same constant static that had begun the moment he had made contact with her again, and not a single line of code ran through his head. It was simply… empty. Pure nothingness. For all intents and purposes, Pneuma was… gone. He sent a few, futile pings out into the void, desperate for some sort of answer.

But nothing came back.

Part of him began to wonder if, perhaps, Pyra and Mythra were actually right. That, much like their own crushing admissions, there was nothing to be done. Nothing that _could_ be done. The other part of him stubbornly refused to accept that outcome. There was a beat beneath his palm, faint but steady. And... a faint glimmer of something grasped tightly in one of her hands, one he distinctly recognized as the seashell she had been 'gifted' by his mother.

An idea began to form within his mind. “Pyra. Mythra. Do you two… remember when I had managed to reach inside your core crystal? When I died on the ship, and… again, on the Cliffs of Morytha.”

Looking up, Mythra peered at him. “Er… yeah. Your… consciousness shifted, to temporarily reside within us. Why?”

The implication began to dawn upon Pyra. “Wait. Rex, are you... thinking what I think you are?”

He, in fact, was, something made all the more evident by his slow nodding.

“That’s quite possibly one of the _craziest_ ideas you’ve ever had. You _do_ know what you’re suggesting, right?”

He nodded again. “Yeah, Pyra, I do. I move myself into Pneuma’s core crystal and see if I can’t find her. That’s _exactly_ what I’m suggesting.”

“That’s…” A rare huff of exasperation from her, as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “It’s too dangerous, Rex. There’s too many unknown variables at play here. You might get in there and find there’s simply _nothing at all_ , and I don’t know if myself or Mythra will be able to pull you out.”

Mythra had likewise shot him a look, folding her arms. “And if we _can’t_ get you back out, then that’s… basically that. Your mind will be completely cut off from your body. In short, comatose.”

“Rex, I know this isn’t any easier on you as it is for us. We love her just as much as you do, but… if we lost _you_ as well, I… I don’t know if…” Another huff, as Pyra’s voice began to break somewhat. “I really don’t want to think about it.”

“...to be totally honest, I’m with Pyra on this one. I really don’t want to lose her either, but risking you as well just for the _possibility_ of getting her back is... hard to swallow. But…” Reaching out, Mythra had placed a hand back upon Rex’s shoulder, giving him a weak smile. “...your mind’s already made up, isn’t it?”

Rex merely nodded to his Blades again, hand still firmly upon Pneuma’s core crystal. “...Yeah. You two know I can’t just give up on her like this. I’d never be able to forgive myself if I did. So… only thing left to do is to go after her.”

“Of all the idiotic… ugh. Just be careful, okay? No doing anything stupid. If anything bad happens to you in there, there’s no guarantee you’ll come out of it the same, or _at all_.” Leaning over, she gave him a quick peck upon the lips, grinning faintly at him. “And I’ll never forgive you if that happens. So don’t screw this up.”

“I know, I know. ‘Careful’ is my middle name, don’t worry.”

“Hey, I’ve seen what you’ve pulled off. You don’t even know the _meaning_ of the word.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll be careful. Honest.”

Pyra had crept a bit closer by now as well, leaning to give him a much deeper kiss, and locking eyes with him as she placed her forehead against his. “I can’t even begin to tell you how much I don’t like you rushing off to do something like this, but… you’re right. It simply wouldn’t be ‘you’ if you didn’t. Just… like Mythra said, _please_ be careful. If things are looking particularly bad, or there’s no sure sign you can rescue Pneuma… as much as it pains me to say it, _please_ consider getting out of there. We _need_ you, Rex. I can’t bear to lose you, and I’m sure Mythra can’t either.”

“Pyra… you’re not losing me any time soon, and I’ll be damned if I come back empty handed. I _am_ gonna get Pneuma back. I promise.”

With his goal clear, he began to focus more intently on the core crystal beneath his palm, willing the command line to come into view within his mind’s eye, and a single word seared itself into his vision as he began to make the necessary inputs.

Καιρός.

His body went limp within Pyra’s arms.


	13. Sigma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In another time, and another place, Rex meets a familiar—yet not quite familiar—face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're in MASSIVE headcanon territory here. Just a forewarning.

_...Titan’s foot…_

One hand held to his temple, he struggled to fight off a now-pounding headache, his eyes slowly fluttering open to take in his new surroundings. The ground beneath was hard and cold, not terribly unlike what they had found within the depths of Morytha, and yet… he heard birds in the distance. Grunting and squinting as his eyes adjusted, Rex slowly got to his feet, still somewhat unsteady as he began to gain his bearings.

He was… in Elysium. Or at least, it _looked_ like Elysium. This was very much _not_ the same as the dreamscape he shared with Pyra, Mythra, and Pneuma, nor was it similar at all to what he had seen when he had first met Pyra… or even what it had looked like when they had first arrived to the very top of the World Tree over a year ago. There was no blown-out desert, no empty remnants of civilization — this was a _city_. This was… Elysium, as it should have been countless ages ago.

There were streets and walkways. Buildings. Trees. Wildlife. He could even hear the distant roar of a waterfall. This was everything he could have hoped for when he had first heard the tales as a child, and yet, he had seen the end result. The _truth_. This was little more than an illusion, a falsehood that still remained within the depths of Pneuma’s very being. It _did_ explain why there were absolutely no other individuals around, aside from himself, and that girl on the corner.

_...Wait, girl?_

A stare, as he tried to judge the character in question, and his feet began to move on their own, drawing him closer to her. He was still a ways away from her, but even from this distance, it looked _just_ like Pneuma. He hadn’t anticipated finding her so easily, simply standing upon a street corner in the midst of Elysium, or… at least, he _thought_ it was a street.

“...Pneuma?” Rex cocked his head somewhat, a hand hesitantly reaching out to her. “Is that… is that you?”

She picked up her head the moment she heard the name, turning to face him, and—

Something was amiss. The way her body moved was simply… _wrong_. The gentle, reserved grace, the confident and meaningful movements, all of it was _gone_ and replaced with… rigidness. Like someone who had been instructed time and time again of a ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ way to walk, to talk, to move, to _breathe_.

She looked like Pneuma— _his_ Pneuma—yet... wasn’t. Instead, she had merely bowed before him, bringing herself upright once more as she began to speak. “Hello, and welcome to Elysium.”

Her voice sounded unusually cold, perhaps even a bit overly formal. Something about it bothered him far more than he’d care to admit. “Are… you...?”

“...I am Sigma, Aegis-class Trinity Processor zero two, iteration zero four nine, subdesignation ‘Pneuma’. Welcome, Administrator.” Another short bow, followed by even more of that withering, emotionless speech of hers. “You currently reside within Elysium, sub-installation zero one, district thirty-three, block four. Query?”

“Q… Query?” A pause, as he swallowed hard. “You’re… um… _not_ Pneuma, are you?”

She merely gave him a vacant stare, as if looking _through_ him rather than _at_ him. “I am, indeed, sometimes referred to as ‘Pneuma’.”

“N-No, that’s not… sorry, there’s someone else I’m looking for who looks just like you. _Her_ name is ‘Pneuma’.”

“How curious. A moment, please.” She shut her eyes, as if listening for something, then opened them once more only a few seconds later. “Most peculiar. Iteration seven six three is currently detectable within the system.”

The response earned a puzzled look from Rex, who idly scratched at a cheek. “I… don’t get it, um… what should I call you, again?”

“I am Sigma.” The being stared right back at him, with a somewhat unnervingly unwavering smile. “Station personnel refer to me as such, or as ‘Zero Two’, or as ‘Pneuma’. You may call me whichever names you wish, Administrator.”

“Let’s, uh… let’s stick to ‘Sigma’ then, yeah?”

“Thy will be done.” Another brief bow out of her, and she just as soon stood once more. “Your earlier query was in regards to the iterations, yes?”

“Sure, but first… you said you found someone else in here with us?” He took a cautious step towards her, his expression hopeful. “Are they… _anything_ at all like you?”

“Iteration seven six three is identical to myself in almost every facet, yes.”

 _So that…_ has _to be Pneuma, then._ “And where are they? Right now?”

“Signature is currently stationary seventy-three point four kilometers away. Subsystem scans show that they have _been_ stationary since arriving.”

“Could you… take me to them?”

Sigma tilted her head, peering at him. “...Is that a command, Administrator?”

“Okay, hold on. You keep calling me ‘Administrator’. Why?”

With a wave of her hand, she brought up several floating displays before him, pointing at each. “System scans are running constantly, and upon your arrival showed the ‘Master Driver’ genetic marker upon you. As such, and as per Professor Klaus’ directives, you were given the rank of ‘Administrator’ and all related permissions.”

“Well, that… sure is something. Um.”

“The decision was also made to adjust your attire to something more befitting of your rank while you reside within here.”

“...What?”

Gesturing directly to him, Rex glanced down at himself, shocked to find that his Master Driver outfit was indeed back upon him. He wasn’t sure _how_ or _when_ it had happened, nor was he sure how it had ever slipped past his notice. Surely he would have seen it almost first thing upon arriving within Elysium, though perhaps he was just as distracted by his now-fading headache to even really catch what had occurred.

“Alright, that’s… also something. Erm… Sigma, did _you_ do this?”

A shake of her head. “Negative. Systems placed it upon you the moment you entered. I was not directly involved.”

“Huh. Well… okay then. Back to what you said earlier though… you were asking me if what I said was a command?”

She nodded. “That is correct.”

Rex frowned a bit in response. ‘Commanding’ was… never really his thing in the first place. “I thought of it more as a request, really.”

“You are… _requesting_ that I take you to iteration seven six three?”

“Yeah. I… really need to see her. It’s important.”

“Very well. I am not wont to decline a request from an Administrator, nor would my directives even allow me to.” She abruptly began to walk in a direction, beckoning him to follow. “Come. I will answer any further enquiries along the way.”

“Uh. Right. Sure.” Picking up his pace so as to best keep up with his newfound guide, he couldn’t help but reflect a bit — this being, this ‘Sigma’, was the very spitting image of Pneuma. And yet, even though he had just gotten the briefest of glimpses into her own personality, so much of her seemed so terribly formal, so terribly _cold._ Nothing at all like how Pneuma was, or at least… not _now_ , anyways. “You said this other ‘you’ was some seventy-odd ‘kilometers’ away? How far is that, exactly?”

“At our current pace, estimated arrival will be roughly 30 hours from now.”

“That’s… over a day, though!”

“Iteration seven six three _is_ a fair distance away. Whilst we are currently in district thirty-three and block four, iteration seven six three is located within district eighty-two.”

“I… I see.” A bold-faced lie. He well and truly didn’t understand what was going on still. “Sigma, you keep mentioning ‘iterations’ when you talk about yourself and Pneuma. You mind explaining that a bit?”

“You mean your earlier query, Administrator? A moment, please. Fetching archival data.” There was another brief pause, and with a sweep of her arm much like before, several images floated into view before the two of them, moving along in sync as they walked down the street. “Iterations refer to a personality iteration. Just as I am iteration zero four nine, the one you seek is iteration seven six three, a much more advanced variation of myself.”

Rex turned to stare at her a bit, still more than a little confused. “Okay, but… _why?_ I mean… _yeah_ , that’s an awfully big jump, to go from you being… what, forty-nine? And Pneuma being seven-hundred and sixty-three? Why make _that_ many?”

“Per notes left behind in archival data and the coding that comprises myself and all subsequent iterations, Professor Klaus was… lonely. The unexpected aftereffects of the experiment involving the Conduit resulted in relative isolation, as well as seeming immortality. He desired companionship, and so he began to work upon creating personalities for the CPUs that still resided within the Trinity Processor.”

“He… wanted a family, then. Children, even.”

“Correct. This desire lead to his eventual moniker of ‘Father’, though earlier iterations failed to refer to him as such. It was simply not included within our directives, and so he was instead called by the same rank and name as what remained within station databanks. The earliest iterations still proved overly logical for his liking, leading to continual work towards gifting us more ‘human-like’ personalities. I was the first iteration to reach true stability, as well as having some semblance of ‘humanity’, thus all subsequent iterations were based upon myself.”

“...including Pneuma. Which is why you’re still here.”

“Correct. I have always remained as a base process. All other systems and subsystems, including those she created of her own volition as part of Professor Klaus’ goal of creating ‘children’ with freewill, are dependent upon me.” Another wave of the arm, and the images disappeared. “I cannot exist without her, just as she cannot exist without me.”

“So was Pneuma the last iteration, then?”

“Affirmative. No iterations beyond seven six three exist within any present databases, archival or otherwise. My housing was stolen from Rhadamanthus before further iterations could be created. Professor Klaus had also lost motivation, and had not created any new iterations in the two-hundred and ninety-six years prior to said theft.”

“Right. Okay, so that… explains the iteration thing then, I guess.”

“Do you have any additional enquiries, Administrator? There is still a _very_ long way to go before we arrive at your destination.”

“Well…” _Finally, something a little easier._ There was one other question that certainly came to mind, and one that had been bothering him ever since he had first arrived at… wherever ‘here’ was. “What is this place?”

“Are you referring to your physical location, or your mental?”

“...I’m sorry, my _what?”_

“There are two answers to your enquiry. Which do you wish to know?”

He simply stared at her, almost as if he was having difficulty comprehending what she had just told him. And he _very_ much was. _“Both_ would be a pretty good starting point, yeah?”

“A moment, while I parse the relevant information.” Simply staring forward, Sigma abruptly rose several inches into the air, and it was only then that Rex realized that she was _floating_ alongside him as they continued down the road. “Physically, your body is precisely where you left it, and your consciousness has instead migrated elsewhere. More specifically, into iteration seven six three’s CPU housing.”

“You, uh.” He briefly stumbled over his own words, still distracted by her _suddenly floating._ “You mean her core crystal?”

“Correct. Deep system scans regarding yourself show that you have accomplished this feat numerous times already, and did so unintentionally on two of those occasions.”

Only two events really came to mind that fit within those criteria — when he had first died aboard that ancient vessel, and again at the Cliffs of Morytha over Pyra’s and Mythra’s presumed ‘corpse’. But those had just been the unintentional instances, meaning… “The only other times I think I ever did, I was… asleep?”

“A human might refer to it as ‘dreaming’, Administrator.”

 _...Right, the big ‘communal’ dream._ “Is that some lingering effect of me being Master Driver of an Aegis?”

For the briefest of moments, Sigma seemed… troubled. “No data available.”

“...What?”

“You are not _merely_ the Master Driver, but you were also so much _more._ I have no applicable data that describes the circumstances surrounding you. The colloquial term for it would be ‘Blade Eater’, but even that is not directly applicable to your scenario. Your mutual possession of an Aegis-class processor’s core was… complex, and difficult to put into a manner that you could comprehend. Simply put, what occurred defied all conventional thinking, as well as the going beyond the limitations of what Professor Klaus thought we were capable of. He was… unable to account for it.”

“So I’m guessing that means you don’t know what _else_ changed for me after becoming a Master Driver?”

“Incorrect. Preliminary scans show numerous genetic modifications that took place the moment the ‘Master Driver’ genetic marker was imprinted upon you, including the erasure of any and all harmful genetic mutations. Several other changes also appear to have been made to greatly extend your own lifespan.”

“Sigma, just… how long are we talking here?” Rex peered up at her, still somehow managing to keep his footing steady as they seemed to move endlessly forward. “Years? Decades?”

“No data available.” She appeared to give it some thought, however, tilting her head somewhat before delivering an answer. “However, data extrapolation points toward centuries.”

“Oh. Okay.” _...Wait. Wait wait wait._ Another quick, frantic look back up towards her. “Hold on, you said _centuries?”_

“Plural, yes. I am afraid it is impossible for me to give a more specific answer.”

A _very_ slow nod, as Rex struggled to take in everything being told to him. “Alright then, uh… what about any other effects from me having part of an Aegis’ core as my heart? Since, you know, that was a thing.”

“No data available. As Aegis-class processors receive and contain all empirical data regarding life itself, it is not out of the realm of possibility to have said processor function as a surrogate organ for a living being. However, as mentioned before, it _was_ inconceivable that you would receive it in such a way, given the state both donor and recipient were in at the time.”

This was simply turning into one enormous revelation after the other, and if it weren’t for the fact that his body was _literally elsewhere,_ he was certain he likely would’ve fallen over already. “Backing up a bit, you said my mind is inside Pneuma’s core crystal right now, yeah? I get that much, but… where is _here,_ exactly?”

She turned to stare at him, possibly confused for the first time since they had met one another. “I do not understand the question, Administrator.”

“Well, this place looks _just_ like Elysium, before it got all ruined and turned into a wasteland. And I never really saw much of the _old_ Elysium. Just that one little hill I met Pyra on.”

“...I see. You would like a greater explanation of Project Elysium, then?”

He nodded, especially upon hearing it phrased like that for the very first time — _Project Elysium?_ A first, to be sure. “Please.”

“Very well. In 2033, a unified Earth government had recognized the growing need for humanity to live elsewhere, and to move beyond the confines of the terrestrial. The planet had finite land and finite resources, yet humanity had continued to grow and expand. Interplanetary travel had not yet been fully realized, with a settlement upon the adjacent Moon only happening a few years prior. Thus, Project Elysium was created, an orbital ring with which to house more of humankind.” She moved her hands about, conjuring forth several new images, and pushed them down to float before him with a simple wave of her finger. “In the interests of structural stability, it was decided to construct three orbital-to-suborbital elevators across the entirety of the planet’s equator, the colloquial term being ‘space elevator’. These were also dubbed ‘bean stalks’, with their own share of facilities and designations. You know of one of them as ‘Rhadamanthus’, or ‘the World Tree’. Development referred to it as ‘Yggdrasil’, though this name did not survive beyond the construction phase of the project.”

With no answer to really give, Rex instead stared at the images floating in front of him, a slew of people and civilizations long since dead and forgotten. “It’s kind of incredible that they got _everyone_ to unite behind this.”

“Indeed. Construction of all support structures completed in 2041, far ahead of schedule, and thus moving things to the second phase of the project. Construction of the orbital ring itself was logistically challenging, as no superstructures had ever been built within orbit whilst still remaining within the planet’s gravity well, yet nonetheless had begun in 2042. All components of the orbital ring initialized around each ‘bean stalk’, and were subsequently connected to the rest of the structure proper, leading to a gradual expansion of facilities. The orbital ring itself was declared ‘complete’ by 2059, and construction _within_ the ring began shortly afterwards, leading to the many buildings and roads you now see before you.”

“But… no people.”

Showing the briefest of hints of actual emotion, she sighed. “...Correct. Station personnel and their families had already begun living within Project Elysium by 2061, with high-level experiments taking place elsewhere in the facility, as the station itself technically existed within neutral territory as per the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 and 2019. Construction of living facilities throughout the rest of the orbital ring was ongoing, and would not complete until 2080. Governments throughout the world began to make preparations to move their peoples to the ring, but this action would never be fully realized. Disgusted with a perceived ‘waste’ of resources, as well as seeming inaction in addressing the plight of their fellow peoples, a rebel faction staged a coup en masse and attempted to take the station from unified government forces, leading to intense fighting. Despite the presence of numerous Siren units slaved to the Conduit, the station was woefully underprepared for such a scenario. It had only ever been built with peaceful applications in mind, and so was lacking in proper defenses.”

“And… where was the Conduit, in all of this?”

“The Conduit was the catalyst. A source of limitless energy, it defied all known physics at the time, and lead to a revolution in technology, allowing for the construction of the orbital ring in the first place. It is also hypothesized to be what lead to the rebellion that lead to the station’s downfall, as it had already been moved to reside within Rhadamanthus, yet had taken on religious-like connotations. Administrator, a rhetorical question for you.”

“Um. Sure?”

“What do you think would happen should an item exist that could possibly do away with all of the world’s woes? Unlimited energy, leading to boundless technology. Boundless technology, leading to miraculous advances in science and medicine. No more pollution. No more hunger. No more wars. And then said item is moved beyond the confines of the planet, locked away high in orbit beyond the reach of the many.”

Rex stared a bit, unsure of an answer himself. “That’s… well. I’m… not sure, really.”

“The answer is simple, Administrator. Humans fight amongst themselves. They kill. They steal. They are covetous creatures at their core.”

“S-Sigma, that’s…” Visibly uncomfortable, his stare hardened. “Not everyone is like that, though. Klaus saw that!”

“It is the inevitable cycle of things. Humanity is born. Humanity creates. Humanity destroys. Humanity is reborn. Repeat ad infinitum.” Her voice now shockingly cold, it was little wonder to see _why_ Klaus had pressed on with further and further iterations — there was no emotion to be found here. This was naught but raw, pure logic, built upon countless points of data and countless simulations. “That is not to say that you are much the same, Administrator. Your being the Master Driver is testament to this. You could not have achieved it otherwise. But, I digress. Professor Klaus’ activation of the Conduit in a highly experimental setup quickly put an end to the so-called ‘rebellion’, as well as the apparent entirety of humanity. With the press of a button, a new universe was indeed created, but at great cost. Ninety-nine point nine-nine percent of all life on the planet was eradicated, with the only survivors being those within the orbital ring or the immediate proximity of any connecting superstructures upon the surface of the planet.”

“Like… Morytha…”

“Correct. Though constructed to house billions of humans, Project Elysium would never hold any more than a few hundred thousand. Unfortunately, I cannot outline what happened immediately following activation of the Conduit by Professor Klaus, as he forcefully expunged all data on the matter from any and all systems. No reasons were stated for this erasure of data.”

He could certainly speculate on it, though — shame and regret. “Well, that’s… certainly a lot to take in.”

“Do you have any further enquiries, Administrator?”

“N-No, not… not really. Though…” Tapping a finger to his chin in thought, Rex soon continued. “Could you try acting a little more… I don’t know, _human?”_

Sigma abruptly stopped in place, still floating in the air yet now giving him a quizzical look. “...’Act human’? Does my behavior bother you, Administrator?”

“Well… yeah, a little. Like, I get it, you were still really early along in the whole ‘iteration’ process thing. But… the way you _talk_ about some of these things is just… sad. You talking about people like they’re just numbers, or how they can’t change at all. You just mentioned _billions_ of people dying like it was nothing!”

“It is but a footnote in the annals of history.”

“See! Right there! It’s a programming thing for you, _I know that,_ but you still end up sounding so… _cold,_ and emotionless! I mean… Klaus _wanted_ you to be human-like, right? You said it yourself, when you were telling me about the iterations.”

She glanced off to the side, looking somewhat unsure. “That is… correct, yes.”

“So maybe… try lightening up a little bit or something?”

“I am... unsure if that is possible, Administrator.”

“And what if I _command you_ to?” Folding his arms, Rex stared right back up at her, a faint grin upon his face. “You have to follow it, right? I mean, I _am_ an administrator now.”

“...Correct.” Suddenly uncertain of herself, Sigma had abruptly crossed her legs and now gazed off into the distance. “If you were to command it, I would… be forced to follow it. My directives do not allow me to decline commands from anyone with Administrator-level access.”

 _Is she… hesitating when she talks now?_ “I really don’t _want_ to command you though, Sigma. Just… _please_ try and be a little more thoughtful about things like this? A little more relaxed? There’s no need to get all formal on me.”

“You are… requesting it then, Administrator?”

“Yep.”

Eyes closed in thought, she appeared to ponder the words he used, and the gravity of what he had just stated. “...Very well. I will do my best to fulfill this request, Administrator.”

“Thank you, Sigma. Really.” Placing one foot before the other, he began to walk once more, and Sigma soon began to follow shortly behind, still floating along. “How close are we now?”

“Initial distance to iteration seven six three was seventy-three point four kilometers. We are now sixty-eight point two kilometers away from said target.”

His mood very suddenly dampened, Rex slumped a bit, his pace slowing. “This is gonna take forever… and I really don’t know how much longer she’ll last. She’s been having a hard time of things…”

“Would you like me to accelerate the process, Administrator?”

“W-What?!” Huffing, he glared up at her. “You can _do_ that? Why didn’t you say so before?!”

Sigma’s answer was a terribly nonchalant, “You did not ask.”

“Well I’m asking _now_. Could you _please_ speed things up? The sooner we can get to her, the better.”

“Thy will be done. A moment, then.” With a wave of her arm, Rex was very gently lifted from the ground, eventually floating right beside her. “Please remain stationary. Sudden movements during transit may result in loss of limbs. Elysium is not responsible for any bodily harm suffered due to rider negligence.”

“Wait! Wait, wait, wait! Sigma! What was that last part?!”

“Beginning launch sequencing. Destination locked. Setting optimal route.”

“Sigma! The limbs! What about the limbs?!”

“Launch sequence complete. Initializing.”

Just as he was about to ask once more, he watched—and _felt_ —himself be enveloped by a pale light, and then, very suddenly, sent rocketing above and through the city skyline at a pace _far_ faster than should ever have been humanly possible. With the air ripped from his lungs at the drastic acceleration, he could barely glance to his side to catch Sigma very calmly looking forward… and with almost a faint smile upon her face.

Willing his eyes to fight against the wind racing past him, he glanced forward once more, and saw an endless sea of stars out of the many windows of the orbital ring.

She wasn’t so different after all.


	14. One Step Closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief scuffle leads to another series of revelations, and Rex draws closer to his goal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey wow it's been a hot minute, hasn't it? Had a lot going on with me -- work, writer's block, interest in other fandoms, Fire Emblem... but hey, we're updating! Story's not dead! If anything, we're almost at the end! After this, all that remains is one chapter and an epilogue. Almost there!

He had lost count of how long they had been soaring above Elysium, flying so very close—or at least what felt like it—to the stars themselves… the very same ones that Sigma had yet to take her eyes off of.

The same ones that Pneuma had loved so dearly.

A part of him wondered if she was okay. If she was still out there, waiting for him. If she was still… well,  _ alive.  _ There were so many questions, so many hypotheticals, so many little things that he desperately wanted an answer to as some measure of reassurance. He didn’t know what things were like outside of all of this, for example, where Pyra and Mythra no doubt anxiously waited. He  _ couldn’t _ know. And… Sigma likely wouldn’t know either.

In spite of all of that, however, he held onto hope, something he had always been  _ very _ good at. Pneuma seemed rather strong-willed — she was fine. She  _ had _ to be fine. He’d find her, they’d reunite, and then they would both leave this place together and move on with the rest of their lives. Together. Because that’s… what he had promised, and salvagers kept their promises.  _ Rex _ kept his promises.

“Administrator?”

“Huh?” Pulled from his thoughts—something he was quietly thankful for—Rex glanced over a bit to his right at Sigma, who still flew right alongside him. “What’s up?”

“Incoming hostiles.”

“...What?”

“We are presently twenty-six point two kilometers away from iteration seven six three. In doing so, we have crossed a security barrier, and hostiles are now en route.”

_ ‘Hostiles’? Here? ...How?  _ “Can you tell them to go away or something? I mean, you practically run the place!”

“Entities are ignoring all known commands to stand down.”

“Okay… okay, so… tell them that the  _ administrator _ says to go away! They  _ gotta _ follow that, right?”

“Attempting to issue command.” There was a pause, and her brow suddenly furrowed. “Command refused. Data corruption has rendered them unable to comply.”

_ Corruption? Don’t tell me that’s because of Pneuma…  _ “Titan’s foot… so get ready for a fight then, yeah?”

“Correct. Shall I set us down?”

Solid ground would certainly be preferable to trying to fight in the air, a feat he had only ever done  _ once,  _ and only with Pneuma right by his side as they squared off against Jin, their ether link blazing bright… but this was not that place, and Sigma was not Pneuma. He wasn’t even sure if she functioned as a Blade typically would. Such things meant that he was largely going in blind, so to speak, a fact that he did  _ not _ like. “Somewhere flat and open, if you can.”

“Thy will be done, Administrator. Landing zone spotted. Beginning descent.”

They began to steadily drop, and from behind his head, Rex began to hear the scream of several  _ things _ hurtling through the air — they had caught up much faster than he had expected, and from a distance, they almost looked like the very same constructs Malos had used against them in Genbu. But… that wasn’t quite right either. They looked… different, in a way he found difficult to put into words. He recognized the silhouette. The shape. The color. The stance.

His heart was suddenly in his throat as the constructs drew closer, buildings and skyscrapers now rushing past him, now very suddenly able to recognize what was pursuing them. They… looked like  _ her. _ They  _ all _ looked like her.

Like... Pneuma.

“Contact in three. Two. Brace for impact.”

His body seemed to be running on autopilot, already turned about and feet at the ready, harshly skidding across the grass of the field they had landed upon. Sigma had placed herself behind him, arms upon his back as her ‘wings’ unfurled, gradually bringing them to a stop… and the constructs raced ever closer.

He didn’t want to do this. He  _ really _ didn’t want to do this. They weren’t her,  _ none _ of them were her, but the fact that they all shared her body, her face, her  _ movements _ seriously unnerved him. It was like he was being thrown into a fight with the very same girl he had come to love, and it left him feeling nauseous.

But there was no time for that. Sigma abruptly dragged him to the ground as one construct swooped above him, blade keenly aimed at where his neck had been just seconds ago. “Administrator, any semblance these entities might bear towards myself or iteration seven six three must be ignored. They seek to purge us both, and they  _ must _ be stopped. Failure to do so will result in our erasure.”

“Erasure?” Rex had just enough time to shoot her a questioning look before he had to roll out of the way of another attack, the blade kicking up dust and debris as it trailed along the ground where he had once been. He gave the word another thought, now framing it with what Mythra had told him earlier — ‘erasure’ meant his mind dying here, leaving little more than an empty husk back in the real world… where Pyra and Mythra were. And that simply wasn’t an option. “Right, got it. Time to—”

He reached for his sword and found nothing there — he was weaponless. He had  _ been _ weaponless this entire time, and in a way, it made sense. Only his mind had made the trip over, so why would he have come with a sword? Fighting these things with just his fists wasn’t going to work though… they moved entirely too fast, and no doubt hit entirely too hard for him to simply try and treat this as some drunken brawl at Argentum. Sigma was currently giving him a confused look as he simply sprinted around the field, ducking and rolling here and there to avoid any attacks — in comparison, things seemed  _ much _ easier on her end, with her simply blinking in and out of existence to dodge anything that came her way.

“Sigma! Got a little problem here!”

“Administrator?”

“I don’t have anything to fight with!”

Another confused look, possibly compounded by her vanishing and promptly reappearing next to him. “This is your domain, Administrator. You are the Master Driver. You need but think it to make your will into reality.”

_ Just think it? Right… right. I can do this.  _ Thinking was admittedly hard when one was being attacked by several murderous constructs, but he was doing his very best, trying to picture a usable weapon in between his own dodges and dives away from any fatal wounds. Somewhat frustratingly… he was drawing a blank — it had felt fitting to try and use Pneuma’s very own blade against these same fiends who would dare wear her face, and yet he simply could  _ not _ picture it at all, no matter how many times he had held it in his hands. “Uh, Sigma?”

“That weapon is presently forbidden, Administrator. The feedback loops it might cause whilst being used in the system it originates from could be catastrophic.” She disappeared in a flash of light as one construct flew through, reappearing just a few feet away from him. “Try another.”

_ Another? _ One such weapon came to mind… or rather,  _ two _ did, and he could vividly see them within his mind. The hilt, the blade itself, the way it felt within his hands… the weight, the balance, the very  _ feel _ of ether flowing through it during the height of a battle. He could see them so clearly now. Swords he had used so terribly often, swords he had wielded time and time again over the span of an entire  _ year… _ swords which had originated from individuals he was intimately familiar with — Pyra’s and Mythra’s. If Pneuma’s blade wouldn’t work, then her sisters would be just as apt for what he was about to do.

He reached for it, for the  _ idea _ of it—

Even with all her speed, even with her own capabilities, she had caught a wayward construct too late,  _ far _ too late for her to react to it in time… and far too late for her to stop it from reaching Rex. “Administrator!” 

Her words fell on deaf ears. He focused on the picture in his mind, and the world seemed to slow around him.  _ Think of Pyra. Think of Mythra. Think of them with you. Sword in hand. Ether flowing through you. Through both of you. Ether alight and ablaze with the strength of your bond. Of your love.  _ Our _ love. _

There was a sudden weight in his hands, and he swung wide, cleaving a construct in twain. It was only then that he realized something was  _ off — _ there was a weight in his hands.  _ Both _ of them. He had summoned not one, but  _ two _ swords, and yet they both felt light as a feather. A cursory glance revealed that he had managed to draw out both Pyra’s  _ and _ Mythra’s weapons, and though both retained a rough semblance to the broadswords he had used so often, these were… different. Smaller, more slender,  _ much _ faster. They had  _ changed. _

_ How did…? _

There was no time for that. Questions could wait for later, when both himself and Sigma weren’t being constantly harassed, and… if she said all he had to do was  _ think _ it to make it happen, then…

_ Speed… and power. I need power. The power to protect, like when I fought Jin. _

The world seemed to shift, and then he became little more than a blur, darting about the field from one foe to the next, repeatedly telling himself the same thing as he rent each and every one of them asunder — _ you’re not her, you could never be her, and you never  _ will _ pass as her.  _ Something about that irritation, that quiet indignation over them being so bold as to use  _ her _ body as their own was lending him greater strength than he thought possible… anger may have been one thing, but focused wrath lead to raw conviction, and conviction created unbridled determination, a force greater than so many could even hope to realize.

He grimaced as he ran the blades clean through another, stepping back and pulling them free as he readied to move onto the next.  _ You couldn’t hope to compare to her. _

Another swing.  _ She’s not just some machine. _

Another.  _ She’s not a leftover. _

...And another.  _ She’s not some jumbled mess of code like you lot are. _

One blade flew from his hands, driving straight through a construct’s chest as it slumped to the ground — he’d retrieve it later. “...She’s a living being. And you can’t have her.”

The weapon still remaining in his grasp roared to life, ether from an unknown source surging through it. He didn’t bother to think on it. Only a handful of enemies remained, and though Sigma didn’t seem to have any way to fight back, he wasn’t about to let anything happen to her either. With one foot before the other, he ran forth, catching a glimmer out of the corner of his eye… it was either the light bouncing off his blade, or his sword had become the very light itself.

As if fueled by the thought, the glimmer became pure radiance, burning bright.  _ So that’s it, then. Let’s show ‘em what we’ve got, Mythra. _

He danced from one foe to the next, slipping between their own weapons with one of his own, and if he kept things going at their current pace, he’d finish mopping up after this fight in no time at all. If he did, then they could make their final push towards Pneuma. He’d find her, she’d be okay, they could leave together—

There was movement out of the corner of his vision, and Rex silently cursed himself for getting complacent and distracted. One of those  _ things _ had slipped past him, staring right back at him with dead, vacant eyes, and he felt his blood run cold at the sight of  _ her _ so ready to run him through. He brought his arm up to block the blow out of instinct, all too aware of the fact that there was  _ nothing _ actually there to stop what was coming towards him.

Best case scenario, he was about to lose an arm. Worst case scenario, he died. He didn’t particularly like either one. What happened instead was something he hadn’t expected at all — the sound of distant, violent rattling, a sudden weight upon his outstretched arm, and an odd  _ clang _ and reverberation as the shock from the impact shook him, stopped by… a shield. His eyes opened, widening upon the sight of the flames that danced around the edges of it. They were… Pyra’s. He  _ knew _ that look, that gentle warmth they exuded… and this was...

_ It’s… an aegis. _

The thoughts raced through his head as his body seemed to move of its own volition, going through motions he had never made before in his life.  _ Have they always been able to do this? Have  _ I  _ always been able to do this?  _

One construct swung low, only to be met with a harsh shield bash, immediately engulfing it in flames. Another dove after Sigma, and the shield flew from his hand, cutting through the air with a howl… and through the would-be attacker with relative ease. It just as quickly returned back to him in time to block another blow, the sword already buried in another. So many of these movements felt so terribly natural to him… so  _ right. _ Like… this was how it was always meant to be used.

More questions for afterwards. His gaze moved elsewhere as his blade pulled free — only one remained. 

Another throw of the shield resulted in a rather uncanny hit, striking it out of the air as it swooped towards Sigma, the blazing disc severing a ‘wing’ entirely. Now firmly grounded, it took little else for him to finally put an end to this onslaught, once and for all. A run towards it, a jump, and a sword through the chest… and that was that. The construct seemed to reach for him as it fell towards the ground, its mouth moving as it seemed to try to speak. No words came out, yet he could read lips well enough from all his time spent dealing with muffled hearing after deep sea dives.

_ Rex,  _ it said. Or… tried to say. Now thoroughly unnerved, he retrieved the shield and sheathed both it and the sword, giving Sigma a  _ very _ firm look. “Okay… I think you owe me an explanation or two.”

“In regards to what, Administrator?” she asked, too preoccupied with looking at a display to truly look at him.

“Everything!  _ All _ of this! Why all these  _ things _ have yours and Pneuma’s faces! Why these weapons are so different!”

“Administrator, please remain calm. It was not my intention to withhold any information from you. It was simply not felt to be pertinent.”

“Well, it kind of is  _ now.” _

There was a pause, her brow furrowing as the screen before her blipped out of view. “...You would be correct in your assumption, Administrator. Let us resume out journey. I will explain along the way.”

It wasn’t like he had much of a say in the matter. He simply let out a huff of frustration as his body was enveloped in light once more, and soon enough, they had taken off again, flying along the skyline towards destinations unknown.

“Which would you like to hear of first, Administrator?”

“Either.”

“The constructs, then.” A screen came into view in front of her, her hand pushing it over in his direction as they flew side by side. At first glance, he didn’t know  _ what _ he was even looking at, but… the more he stared, the more it started to make sense — it was a list. And there was an  _ awful _ lot of red on it. “The constructs are results of systemic corruption, fragments of data so badly damaged that they’ve gone rampant. Originally meant as system-wide security to fend off any cyberwarfare attempts, all they have to run on is their basic set of directives. Any and all outside commands are ignored. It is not that they do not want to listen, but more so that they  _ cannot.” _

“And all of this is because of corruption?” He ran a finger over the list, causing it to scroll down. The lines kept going, as did the red… more than he liked. “So... all of this is because of—”

“Iteration seven six three, yes. The display before you shows all detectable bugs, glitches, data corruption, and data fragmentation events. The system seems to be highly unstable, with a high degree of degradation present.”

“Meaning all of this is getting worse.”

“Correct. Twenty kilometers until we arrive at our destination.”

Even as she spoke, the list was indeed expanding — the situation was deteriorating by the second.  _ Pneuma _ was deteriorating by the second. “Is there a way to fix all of this?”

“No data available.”

He grimaced. That wasn’t an answer that filled him with much confidence.

“Analysis is ongoing, however. We have multiple background processes running in an attempt to find any remedies. If none can be found, a manual attempt at correction can be made.”

“And…” Rex glanced over towards her, shuffling the display away from himself, and idly watching as it vanished into the light. “Would it work?”

“No data available. Would you like me to reroute so an attempt can be made?”

Pneuma still remained the priority, but… if they got to her and she was beyond their reach, then it would have been pointless. And as much as it pained him to delay it… “Do it.”

“Thy will be done, Administrator. Rerouting.”

They banked in the air, turning towards the left and heading back towards the city, to a central building that seemed so painfully obvious now that they were facing it. “And where are we headed now?”

“Central command. The ‘core’ of iteration seven six three’s CPU housing. It is where all commands are issued, all commands and data retained, and where all primary coding is held. Any changes made there are systemic.”

He connected the dots easily enough. “...including fixes.”

“Correct.” She seemed to give him a look of her own, something he only caught out of the corner of his eye.  _ Did she… frown a bit?  _ “Five kilometers until we arrive at our destination. Administrator, do you still wish to learn about the nature of Aegis-class weaponry?”

_ Meaning whatever the hell happened back there with the transforming.  _ “More than a little bit, if I’m being honest.”

“Very well. Per the name, Aegis-class Trinity Processors such as myself were designed to be the shields for humanity. Adaptable. Insurmountable. When the concepts of ‘resonance’ and ‘Blade weaponry’ first came into Professor Klaus’ thoughts, these hallmarks of our creation held firm. An Aegis-class weapon is, in colloquial terms, a ‘skeleton key’. It adapts. It changes.”

“But Pyra’s and Mythra’s swords were always just… broadswords for me.”

“Because that was the weapon both best suited to you, as well as what you were most familiar with. The same held true for a previous Aegis Driver, numeric zero two, designation ‘Addam Origo’. He, too, knew one weapon type better than all others, and so the form was adapted to maximize his combat efficiency.”

_ So I’m zero three, then.  _ “Okay, so I get that. I think. But… I summoned  _ both _ Pyra’s and Mythra’s swords.”

“Correct.”

“And they…  _ shrank _ down?”

“Though perhaps not your preferred form of weaponry, the size and weight reduction allowed you to wield both, did it not? And yet it no doubt felt as natural to you as any other.”

That was… surprisingly true. He had wielded two weapons before, but not  _ nearly _ as much as he had with broadswords. And yet… using both Pyra’s  _ and _ Mythra’s swords like that had felt so… normal. Routine. “...yeah, actually. What’s the deal with that?”

“By virtue of being an Aegis-class Trinity Processor, all data collected by CPUs throughout the world is routed through us for collection and parsing. Being Master Driver of said processor means that all data, in turn, also passes through you. Any and all information gathered from any and all CPU cores becomes your own, until it becomes second nature to you. You are, in essence, combat perfected. A master of arms.”

He seemed to give her another  _ look.  _ “Then why the shield? There really isn’t anything like it, not with Blades being able to throw up ether barriers around their Drivers now. Shields are kinda redundant, aren’t they?”

“Correct… and yet, not. If separated and unable to receive an ether barrier from any support units, you would otherwise have no way to defend yourself. Parrying an attack is unreliable. Blocking one with a simple blade is just as likely to shatter it. A shield is more reliable. A sword is simply the default.”

“And a bit on-the-nose, isn’t it? I mean… an Aegis with an aegis?”

The corners of her mouth seemed to struggle to curve into an incredibly faint smile. “Correct. One might even call it ‘thematic’.”

“Definitely one way to put it. So is this just… something that can only even happen here? The ‘blade changing shapes’ thing, I mean.”

“No data available. However, data extrapolation surmises that now that you have done so within the confines of iteration seven six three’s CPU, you may do so anywhere in the real world as well, as you now have the necessary knowledge to do so.”

“Mm. Alright, then.”

Sigma adjusted her own form, beginning to slow the both of them as well as dropping their altitude. “Arriving at destination. Beginning descent.”

It gave him just enough time to give his surroundings a quick look — she was bringing them down towards a flat area of some sort, one marked with a series of heavily faded, colored points. Said area was attached to the much,  _ much _ larger command center that he had first spotted as they had begun their trip towards it, and it was only now when he was directly in front of it that he could truly get a feel for how incredibly large it was. Not… quite ‘World Tree’ big, but still  _ very _ big. Likely bigger than anything else that had been built  _ recently, _ at least. 

She was the first to touch down, holding out a hand to him as he landed right alongside her, a display that was certainly much softer and more graceful than the one they had done earlier. “Please follow me, Administrator.”

Nodding and almost right behind her, he kept close pace with her, his face scrunching somewhat at just how loudly their footsteps seemed to echo, even in an open space such as this. In its prime, no doubt this was a bustling city, one that could have easily held the entirety of Alrest in its confines… now, it was completely and totally dead, and the only signs of life were just the two of them.

So much of it felt oddly reminiscent of Morytha, a feeling he hadn’t missed at all, and one that had now returned in force. Soon, they found themselves before a pair of large, metal doors, and a console close by. Sigma gestured towards it with a wave of her hand. “Administrator, if you would, please.”

“I have to do it?”

She nodded. “A programming block prevents me from entering this area on my own. As this area controls system-wide processes, it was a necessary safety measure, in case any processes and iterations such as myself were compromised by outside sources. The only ones with access are those with Administrator-level clearance, which is to say, someone such as yourself.”

“Sure, yeah. Gimme a bit.” He let go of her hand just so he could step away, an action that strangely pained him to do so, and strolled closer to the console. Upon approaching it, the screen abruptly came to life, lighting up before him. His hands moved closer towards the keys, pausing a bit as he hesitated, as if to question himself. As if to ask if he  _ truly _ knew what he was doing. Whatever questions he  _ might _ have asked just as quickly vanished the moment the prompt appeared on-screen.

**> ACCESS ATTEMPT DETECTED, PLEASE IDENTIFY**

He stared at it, resolve hardening, and his fingers began to move.

**> ne recedant ab oculis tuis custodi ea in medio cordis tui**

Another prompt.

**> SECONDARY VERIFICATION REQUIRED**

Another flurry of keypresses on his behalf.

**> vita enim sunt invenientibus ea et universae carni sanitas**

There was a pause, as the console seemed to try and process what it was that had even been entered, as if the countless years spent sitting here had dulled its own senses… if a mass of metal and wires could have such a thing.

**> VERIFYING**

**> .**

**> .**

**> .**

**> IDENTITY VERIFIED**

**> WELCOME USER καιρός, LAST RHADAMANTHUS LOGIN: 07/21/4060**

He let out a sigh of relief. At least the login engraved into his memory wasn’t a simple fluke.

**> NOTE: ALL LOGINS SAVED TO UNITED STATES DATABASE**

**> QUERY?**

Rex turned to look back towards Sigma, who had already begun walking towards him, as if to watch his work. He  _ was _ going to ask her what it was he should even ask next, but… another thought flashed through his mind, and he simply  _ knew. _

**> ccedit**

**> WARNING, ANY CHANGES MADE MAY RESULT IN SYSTEMIC DAMAGE OR CESSATION OF FUNCTIONALITY, CONTINUE? Y/N**

**> y**

At the press of a button, the massive doors began to slide open, dust shaking from them and scattering to the wind. This place had… perhaps never been opened before. Ever. And he and Sigma were about to be the first ones inside.

There was a first time for everything, he supposed, and he didn’t really want to go in ahead of her either. One hand was held outstretched for her, and he simply looked at her expectantly, an action that drew a confused look from her. Her eyes seemed to dart between his face and the hand, back and forth, back and forth… and then, with a hint of hesitance herself, she placed her hand in his.

They made their first steps through the door together, and whatever lay inside, they’d face that as well… together.

Hopefully, soon, he could say the same thing about Pneuma.

Hopefully.

**Author's Note:**

> 'Phoenix Protocol' is simply the name I gave to the process by which Pyra and Mythra returned from their apparent deaths. Basically resurrection.


End file.
